Years of Evelyn
by SmurfLuvsCookies
Summary: The word "parent" was alien and incompatable with their own identities, because even Levy and Gajeel had trouble believing that two creatures as different as they were would be capable of combining and producing another human being.
1. Prospects of Parenthood

_So...Happy New Year! 2012 marks the beginning of a new (fictional) life: the child of the best bookworm and the fiercest Dragonslayer in all of Fiore! I introduce to you my first kid-fic with my two favorite Fairy Tail characters, Levy and Gajeel! Hope you enjoy it. :)_

_**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does._

* * *

><p><strong>Prospects of Parenthood<strong>

Levy and Gajeel couldn't be more different. That was the unanimous agreement amongst the guild members of Fairy Tail, who observed the couple with mild interest as their relationship steadily progressed.

Levy was small and sweet. Gajeel was big and gruff. Levy was kind to the very marrow of her bones. Gajeel was hardly ever kind. Levy was quiet and bookish, avoiding violence when she could help it. Gajeel was loud and didn't give two cents about education, participating and often instigating the brawls that happened daily in the guild. Levy was bright and cheerful. Gajeel was dark and surly. Levy gave her love away to everyone, never hiding it out of cowardice or denying it out of spite. Gajeel had never told anyone that he loved them, and people doubted he ever would.

But unlike most, Levy and Gajeel didn't have to say they loved each other to know it was true.

The two were a potent mix, like hot and cold, and from afar you wouldn't think that they would ever get along. But somehow, instead of clashing like two weather fronts, they eased and complimented the other. Levy was the soft glow that illuminated a dark room, and Gajeel was the shadow that allowed the light to shine. They entwined together in their own kind of harmony, never adhering to another's beat, always falling into their own melodic cadence.

They never considered the fact that their feelings would eventually spark another life. The very idea seemed impossible. The word "parent" was alien and incompatible with their own identities, because even they had trouble believing that two creatures as different as they were would be capable of combining and producing a another human being.

Levy didn't know how to tell Gajeel after she found out. So for a while, she didn't tell him at all. She pondered his reaction to the news in the quiet way she had, wondered if she could do anything to soften the blow. Eventually she decided just to do it.

"Gajeel, I have something important to tell you," she began, her shoulders set and her fists clenched in determination. He had stopped by her apartment briefly to retrieve a few forgotten items that he might need for the mission he was preparing for. He turned from the small pile of his belongings, quirking a nonexistent eyebrow at her. Levy hesitated, considering waiting for him to get back, but she decided that he might want some time to think about it for himself before he confronted her about it.

_But what if it distracts him and he gets hurt? _she thought worriedly, biting her lip. Then she shook her head. _No, he's a professional. He won't let something like that get to him. And besides, Pantherlily's got his back. Still, this is big news..._

"Oi."

Levy blinked, snapping out of her reverie as Gajeel waved a hand in front of her face. She could tell from his posture that he was concerned about her inattention. "I'm sorry, what?"

"You were gonna tell me somethin' important," he reminded her.

"Oh." Levy gulped, and shook her head. "Never mind. I forgot what I was going to say."

Gajeel gave her a look. "You sure you're okay, shorty? You've been actin' weird lately."

"It's just this job I've been working on," she lied smoothly, feeling guilty about it immediately after. It seemed like she'd been lying a lot more ever since she came back from the hospital.

Gajeel snorted. "Sorry, that ain't anything I can help you with."

"Yeah," Levy sighed, looking at her feet.

"Don't look all sad about it," Gajeel chastised, tousling her hair. "I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually. You always do, hell if I know how."

Levy felt the heat of tears prick her eyes. She wasn't sure if it was the hormones (did they manifest this early?) or if it was just the overwhelming guilt she felt lying to him and keeping such vital information hidden away. She felt the world pressing in on her, suffocating her, squeezing the truth right out of her throat.

"Lily! You ready to go?" Gajeel called out, zipping his pack and throwing it over his shoulder. Pantherlily padded in, his own small pack in hand.

Levy couldn't take it.

"Gajeel, I'm pregnant!" she cried in the momentary silence, her words loud and echoing. Gajeel froze and blinked at her, looking stricken. Pantherlily blanched in mortification and silently backed out of the room, giving the two of them their privacy.

The Iron Dragonslayer wasn't quite absorbing the information. "Huh?" he uttered stupidly, still gaping at the blunette.

"I'm pregnant," Levy repeated, this time with more resolve. "I'm going to have a baby. Your baby." The words felt strange on her tongue, but she knew them to be true nonetheless.

Gajeel's eyes shifted down to her stomach, as if he expected it to start bulging right then and there. When it didn't, he looked back up at her face and asked, "You sure?"

"Yes, I'm _sure_. I went to the doctor and everything," Levy said dryly. She sighed. "I'm sorry I waited until now to tell you, I just...I didn't know how. I've known for a few days. You're not mad at me, are you?"

"Nah, not really," Gajeel assured with a shrug.

"...Well," Levy tentatively began, "what do you think?"

Again, Gajeel puffed out his cheeks and shrugged. "I don't really care for kids too much, but I guess this kid is ours, so..." He reached out and laid his hand on her belly. It was big enough to stretch across the entire span of her stomach, from palm to fingertip. "...I guess he'll be pretty awesome."

Levy smirked, covering his hand with her own two small ones. "What makes you think it'll be a boy? It could be a little girl."

"Yeah, right," Gajeel scoffed, as if he were too masculine to produce offspring of the female variety. Levy rolled her eyes, but secretly she was relieved that he was handling this so well. When she was informed, she wandered around for days stressing about how she was going to take care of a baby; a real human baby that needed food and clothes and comfort and attention and love. Until she realized that she approximately nine months to figure it out. And that she wouldn't be alone in raising it. Not only would she have Gajeel, but she'd have all of Fairy Tail to help her.

Pantherlily hesitantly walked in and cleared his throat. "Sorry to interrupt, but if we don't leave we're going to miss our train, Gajeel."

"Right," Gajeel nodded. He turned back to Levy, patting her on the head. "Don't worry, shorty, I'll be back in a few days. Don't tell anyone til I get back. I don't wanna deal with all that gushy guild crap yet."

"We'll have to tell them sometime soon," Levy warned. She knew that Lucy would never forgive her if she wasn't one of the first to know. But she agreed that, just for a little while, this was a secret that they could keep between the two of them (well, three if you counted Pantherlily).

Gajeel waved a dismissive hand and followed Pantherlily out the door, giving Levy a final good bye before departing down the hall. She stood there silently, pressing her hands to the soft plain of her stomach, still warm from Gajeel's touch.

In just a few months, it wouldn't be her and Gajeel anymore. Bound together by this child, by this life, they would cease being a couple and officially be a family.

The thought made her smile.


	2. Pregnancy

_**Author's Note**: And so, we arrive at the pregnancy stage! Thanks for all of you who reviewed or favorited this. I know the first chapter was kind of slow, but the story will pick up as it goes along. :)_

* * *

><p><strong>Pregnancy<strong>

Gajeel had to admit, it didn't really start to become real for him until he walked into the guild the day after he got back from the mission and was bombarded by congratulatory greetings and bundles of pastel-colored balloons.

"Levy..." he growled, resisting the temptation to beat down every intruder of his personal space. Distinctly, he felt his right eye twitch.

"I didn't tell them," Levy defended, throwing up her hands. "They figured it out, I swear."

"And how the hell did they figure it out?"

Levy glanced guiltily at the stack of books in her usual corner. They were all books about pregnancy and babies in general. Gajeel scowled.

"Aw, don't be so hard on her, Daddy-o," Natsu mocked, throwing an arm over Gajeel's shoulders. "She really did do her best to keep quiet about it. Lucy just tricked her into admitting it."

This time, Gajeel didn't bother to contain himself. Natsu flew across the room and landed squarely on Cana's table, breaking it in half. Gajeel didn't have to worry about the Salamander's counterattack; the Fire Dragonslayer was too busy fending off an angry Cana.

"C'mere," he told Levy under his breath, grasping her by the elbow and practically carrying her over to a secluded part of the guild. "That's exactly why I didn't wanna tell 'em yet!"

"Why? Are you embarrassed?" Levy hissed.

"No!" Gajeel defended. When Levy kept up her accusatory glare, he crossed his arms and mumbled, "Yeah, maybe a little."

"Well, you shouldn't be," Levy reprimanded. "This is your baby, and you should be proud! Macao got the same treatment when his ex-wife was pregnant with Romeo." She frowned, gazing up at him with her damnable brown eyes. "I am sorry I let them know too early, though."

Gajeel sighed in defeat. "Whatever, s'no big deal."

So even though Gajeel still threw someone across the room when they called him "Daddy-o," it wasn't out of embarrassment. Just irritation.

Levy's array of mystery, horror, and fantasy novels were quickly replaced with baby books, and she spent a good duration of her time reading up on how to take care of her offspring. She seemed completely prepared for it, but as Gajeel watched her stomach swell up like one of the ever-present pastel balloons, he felt a sense of panic setting in. It was a baby, for crying out loud! He knew absolutely nothing about babies; he didn't know how to hold one, or feed it, or how to change a diaper. He'd never had parents other than Metalicana, and even then he'd taken care of himself a good portion of the time.

As a result, he found himself asking Levy a lot of questions. She seemed to have become an expert overnight, and usually had an answer. When she didn't, they both asked Macao since he was the only parent in the guild that they knew of. Some of his answers were helpful. Others were less so. A few got him punched in the mouth.

One day, Natsu was watching Levy as she read and Gajeel as he fought Macao because of another naughty thing the pervy man had said. After a moment the Salamander declared, "Their kid is either going to be really awesome, or really messed up."

Lucy, who happened to be sitting nearby, opened her mouth to object, but in the end was inclined to agree. It was half Gajeel, after all.

Levy abandoned her apartment in Fairy Hills and moved in with Gajeel, reasoning that they would feel more like a family there and that the baby couldn't wake up any of her fellow female guild mates that way. Renovations ensued; a few left Gajeel quite disgruntled, but pregnant Levy could be scary when she wanted to be. He was convinced that Pantherlily also had a hand in a few of the decisions, seeing as though some of Levy's designs were remarkably similar to repairs the cat had wanted in the past.

When they were done, it was no longer Gajeel's home. But eventually he grew used to the curtains (at least they weren't the flowery ones Levy wanted; that was one of the few battles he fought until the very end) and sharing his shelves of metal trinkets with Levy's books (though he did persuade her to rid of a few, he also lost some of what Levy called "junk") and the throw-pillows on the couch (he actually didn't argue too much about those...they were surprisingly comfy, not that he would ever admit it).

The house was cleaner overall, but that was mainly because Levy let Pantherlily and his military precision do all the tidying. She was no cleaner than Gajeel, as her apartment in Fairy Hills had been ridden with dust. "The baby needs a better environment," she said. But Gajeel never saw her so much as pick up a sponge.

She had Pantherlily lock up his Buster Marm, an act that Gajeel had to agree with. Swords and babies, no matter how small, were a lethal blend.

It was nice having Levy sleep in his bed every night, even if the sheets had been changed out and some of the furniture rearranged. She was warm and soft and smelled pleasantly like parchment and ink drying in the sun. Gajeel purposely kept it cold in the house so she would have no choice but to snuggle closer to him.

Gajeel liked snuggling, but much like the throw-pillows, he would never ever admit that.

As Levy's belly swelled to a disproportionate size and the due date dawned ever closer, Gajeel stopped taking jobs outside of Magnolia. It was a suggestion from Mirajane, who said that if he missed the birth of his child because he was away on a mission, she would personally kill him. She said it with a sweet smile, but a chill ran down Gajeel's spine just the same.

He also tried taking jobs that involved kids, just to get a feel of what it would be like. Some of them weren't that bad, but he got kicked out of a couple schools for his behavior toward others. They were wimps, Gajeel decided, and it didn't matter if he liked other people's kids or not. He was certainly not raising a weakling. He knew his son was going to be awesome, and he made it no secret that he thought so.

Levy disagreed. "I believe you mean our _child_ is going to be awesome. We don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet."

Gajeel just rolled his eyes. While that was true, he was sure that it was going to be a boy. He couldn't see himself raising a girl, anyway. What if she was one of those kids who liked pink and dolls and lipstick? That would be awful. Also, if they had a girl, Gajeel would have to beat away her admirers.

Though that part might have been fun.

He was helping some construction workers with a building when Natsu came roaring down the street, shouting his name. Scowling, he threw a metal beam at the Salamander to get him to shut up, much to the horror of the construction workers on the sight. Natsu swiftly dodged it, and instead it went through a brick wall and into a convinience store.

"GAJEEEEEEEEEEL!" Natsu screeched, distraught. "GAJEEL, IT'S TIME! YOU GOTTA GET TO THE HOSPITAL!"

It took three seconds for Gajeel to process this, then he was barreling down the street toward Magnolia's hospital after Natsu, picking up speed and surpassing the Salamander altogether when he remembered Mirajane's threat.

The nurse was quite startled when he barged in the doors, huffing and puffing and sweaty. "Levy...McGarden..." he wheezed.

The nurse held up a hand. "Say no more. You must be part of the Fairy Tail guild. The waiting room is down the hall to the left." Gajeel nodded and made his way to the area she mentioned. The interior was mostly filled with bustling Fairy Tail members, a few nervous fathers-to-be glancing warily at the bizarre group.

"What's the news?" he asked them.

"Nothing yet. We rushed her here when she started having contractions. Her water broke on the way," Pantherlily dutifully reported, patting the chair he'd reserved for Gajeel.

He sat, and he waited.

He tapped his foot, and he waited.

He paced, and he waited.

The guild members made runs to get food for the others. Gajeel scarfed it down gratefully. He tried to use his keen ears to listen for any sign that Levy was in pain. He heard nothing. Part of him worried; the doctor said that Levy was small, and that she might have a little more trouble with delivery than most. Fairy Tail sensed this aggravation and kept their distance.

Finally, a nurse walked in. "Gajeel Redfox?"

"That's me," Gajeel cried, shooting out of his seat. The nurse jumped and looked him up and down, raising her eyebrows.

"You're the father of Levy McGarden's child?" she asked suspiciously, shifting her feet uncomfortably when she felt the stares of every member from Fairy Tail on her.

"Yeah. How is she?"

"Everything went fine," the nurse assured calmly, diffusing some of Gajeel's buzzing energy. "There was only a slight complication with the umbilical cord, but it was quickly resolved and Miss McGarden and the baby are perfectly healthy."

"What room are they in?" Gajeel inquired. He had to see them to make sure.

"Come this way," the nurse said, stepping aside. Fairy Tail surged out after him, but the nurse held up a hand. "I'm sorry, only one or two visitors at a time right now. She just got through six hours labor."

There was a unanimous groan, but the guild decided that they would allow Gajeel and Levy this time to themselves. In groups of two and three they left the hospital. Jet, Droy, Lucy, and Pantherlily were the very last to go.

Meanwhile, Gajeel shifted his weight from foot to foot in front of the door. He was a great force of anxiety, so uncharacteristic of him. The nurse shook her head as she opened the door to Levy's room. The Iron Dragonslayer was probably the biggest, most intimidating father she'd ever seen, but he was reduced to a bundle of nerves here at the hospital room door.

He barged in as soon as the door was open, his eyes settling on Levy to ensure that she was healthy like the nurse said. The blunette was sweaty and exhausted, but otherwise seemed in good condition. She blinked when he walked in, then grinned. Gajeel's eyes shifted to the wiggling mass of blankets in her slender arms.

Pink blankets.

"I told you it would be a girl," she teased.

The nurse smiled. "I'll leave you two alone," she whispered, closing the door to the room.

Gajeel numbly shuffled over to the bed and plopped down into a chair, knees suddenly weak. Levy grinned again, and held the baby out to him. "Do you want to hold her?"

"I dunno how," Gajeel admitted, still in a state of shock.

Levy rolled her eyes. "Come here, and I'll show you." She cradled the baby in one arm and grabbed Gajeel's hands as he leaned forward, positioning his arms to hold the baby's neck steady and keep her from falling. Then she let go and sat back, watching with a smile.

Gajeel marveled at how small she was. She fit perfectly into the crook of his arm, as though she were made to settle there. She was rather shriveled and pink, her face pinched against the light outside the womb. Gajeel gently rubbed his finger along the soft down of black hair on the top of her head. It was because of him that her hair was this color. This was a little bit of her that was Gajeel Redfox.

She opened her eyes briefly, before squeezing them shut again. She had Levy's eyes. Now there was no doubt that she would get whatever she wanted.

"What's her name?" Gajeel asked.

"I thought we could decide that together," Levy said.

"You're the one who went through six hours of labor."

"And you had to wait for that long," Levy laughed. She stopped and considered it for a second. "I do like Evelyn though. Evelyn Redfox-McGarden."

"Evelyn it is then," Gajeel agreed. He grinned at her, revealing every one of his pointed teeth. "She's gonna be awesome and kick-ass like her daddy and smart and cute like her mommy. Isn't that right, Evelyn?"

Levy giggled. "Wow. You actually called us 'mommy' and 'daddy.'"

"That never leaves this room," Gajeel threatened.

"Whatever."

That night, the three of them slept in the hospital (Gajeel wasn't technically supposed to stay, but none of the staff dared ask him to leave). They were awakened by their guild mates, who thrust pink balloons and bouquets of daisies in the new parents' faces once they heard that it was a girl.

Before the day was over, Evelyn Redfox-McGarden had adopted the nickname Eve and had every member of the guild wrapped around her finger.


	3. One Month: Melodies and Mobiles

_**Author's Note**: For the first few chapters I'll be skipping ahead every three months or so, but once we hit all of the baby milestones I'll start going year to year. The chapters will also progressively get longer as Eve acquires more dialogue. _

_**DISCLAIMER**: The song _Boats and Birds_ was written and performed by _Gregory & the Hawk_. It's a really lovely song, so you should look it up and listen to it. I tried writing my own song but all my attempts were miserable failures; I'm definitely a prose kind of person. _Boats and Birds_ isn't technically a lullaby, but I didn't think that Eve deserved a regular ol' lullaby and this song is so pretty...plus, it kind of inspired me to write this story in the first place. I think it suits the family._

* * *

><p><strong>One Month: Melodies and Mobiles<strong>

As a solid script mage, Levy was accustomed to long nights with little sleep, pouring over documents that needed translating. She'd once pulled a three-nighter hyped up on nothing but coffee and raw determination. After her relationship with Gajeel manifested, she hardly ever got her recommended eight hours of slumber between him and her job.

Still, Levy had never appreciated sleep like she did now.

No amount of tiring translations or long nights with Gajeel could ever measure up to Eve's midnight cries. It seemed as though just as she'd closed her eyes, the baby would start wailing again. Everyone said just to let her cry it out, that she'd stop eventually, and sometimes they were right. Levy had to cover her ears whenever this was the case. She didn't feel right about staying idle when Eve was screaming like that. It felt _wrong_. Although Gajeel agreed with the advice-givers, she could tell it bothered him too.

But there always came a certain point in time where they just couldn't take it anymore, when they felt like Eve would never stop. For such occasions they'd developed a complex system for Eve's retrieval.

"Your turn," Gajeel grumbled, rolling over and burying his face in the pillow. Levy sighed and counted to three, then crawled out of bed to comfort her baby.

Pantherlily had graciously given up his room for Eve since it was the closest to Gajeel's, and instead moved into the old shed that they'd fixed up for him in the yard. Levy wondered now if he'd intentionally done such a thing, predicting that Eve would often wake the house.

The room was hardly recognizable as Pantherlily's. He'd left it rather bare since he didn't spend too much time there, having only a small bed and table he'd taken with him to the shed. Now the room was painted a lovely cream, littered with soft plush toys and stacks of children's books that everyone at the guild had given Levy at her baby shower. An array of crimson, rose, and violet curtains gracefully draped from the ceiling, effectively giving the room a circus tent feel (as it was, Eve's favorite stuffed animal was Indigo the Elephant, a gift from Mirajane).

Levy made her way to the crib in the corner, scooping little Eve into her arms. After a few minutes of quiet rocking and soothing gestures, her wails receded into faint sniffles. Levy softly sang her the lullaby that Lyra, Lucy's Lyre Celestial Spirit, had once sang:

"_If you'll be my star, __I'll be your sky,  
>You can hide underneath me and come out at night.<br>When I turn jet-black, and you show off your light,  
>I live to let you shine.<br>I live to let you shine._

_But you can sky-rocket away from me,_  
><em>And never come back if you find another galaxy,<em>  
><em>Far from here, with more room to fly.<em>  
><em>Just leave me your stardust to remember you by.<em>

_If you'll be my boat, I'll be your sea,_  
><em>The depth of pure blue just to probe curiosity,<em>  
><em>Ebbing, and flowing, and pushed by a breeze.<em>  
><em>I live to make you free.<em>  
><em>I live to make you free.<em>

_But you can set sail to the west if you want to,_  
><em>And past the horizon, 'til I can't even see you.<em>  
><em>Far from here, where the beaches are wide,<em>  
><em>Just leave me your wake to remember you by.<em>

_If you'll be my star, I'll be your sky,_  
><em>You can hide underneath me and come out at night.<em>  
><em>When I turn jet-black, and you show off your light,<em>  
><em>I live to let you shine.<em>  
><em>I live to let you shine.<em>

_But you can sky-rocket away from me,_  
><em>And never come back if you find another galaxy,<em>  
><em>Far from here, with more room to fly.<em>  
><em>Just leave me your stardust to remember you by.<em>

_Stardust, to remember you by_."

When she first heard it, Levy thought it was a little bit sensual for a lullaby; but sure enough, it never failed to put the baby to sleep. _Boats and Birds _(or so the Lyre called it) was the best gift anyone could have ever given her. She'd thanked Lucy and Lyra a million times over.

Levy gently placed Eve back in her crib next to Indie, smiling as she gazed upon her serene face, still wet and stained pink with tears. As she watched, Eve curled herself around the stuffed purple elephant and yawned, eyes moving behind her shadowed lids. Levy wondered if she really did dream of flying, or sailing. Her heart gave a painful little thump. Did Eve come back in her dreams? Or did she continuously wander on without a second thought?

She glanced at the mobile that Gajeel crafted for his daughter, smiling at the thought and at the memory of him diligently creating it. It was seven graceful silver dragons in various stages of flight, each scale glittering with perfection, each fang and talon sharpened to a lethal point. What Levy found most intriguing were the eyes. Each dragon had two thoughtful eyes on either side of its head, but they were so carefully engraved, so impossibly realistic, that it was almost chilling.

Stifling a yawn with her hand, Levy padded her way back across the hall to the room she shared with Gajeel, ditching the blankets and wiggling into his big warm embrace. Her eyes fluttered closed to the steady metronome of his heartbeat, her own personal lullaby.

Not an hour later, Eve started to cry again.

"Your turn," Levy said.


	4. Three Months: Diaper of Doom

**Three Months: Diaper of Doom**

It'd been nearly twelve weeks, a whole ninety days, since Levy came home with Evelyn Redfox-McGarden. Gajeel had yet to change a single one of his daughter's diapers.

No doubt he'd had countless an opportunity, but he wasn't particularly inclined to change a stinky, disgusting, shit-filled diaper, especially with his sensitive Dragonslayer nose. His hands were never idle just for the sole purpose of giving him an excuse not to change Eve's diaper.

But Levy had gone on a brief mission across town, leaving him alone with Eve for a few hours. There was no way that, in the course of a few hours, Eve would not poop. That meant that, eventually, Gajeel would be forced to change her diaper or suffer the consequences; namely, dealing with the stench of crap emanating from Eve.

It happened right after lunch. Gajeel walked by her playing on her blanket and gagged, covering his mouth and nose with his hand as he looked down upon her in horror. There she was, just _sitting_ in it like it was no big deal! And she looked so...happy. And cute. How could she, being so freaking adorable, produce something so...so...ugh.

Gajeel gingerly picked her up, holding her an arm's length away as he carried her to area where Levy kept the diapers and wipes. He set her down and appraised the situation for a moment. _Shit_, he thought. _How the hell am I supposed to do this?_

Eve stared up at him expectantly, kicking up her feet and waving her hands, occasionally gnawing on a fist. Gajeel scratched his neck. He reached over to undo the diaper, then recoiled. _Like hell_ _I'm touching crap with my bare hands, _Gajeel thought_, _wrinkling his nose_. _He dug around in the kitchen drawers until he found two pairs of tongs. "These'll do," he said to himself. But he put on some rubber gloves too, just in case.

Gajeel neared Eve, clicking the tongs experimentally. She gave him a freaked-out look, her tiny black eyebrows coming together. With a nervous, shaking hand, he neared the diaper with the tongs.

"What are you doing to that poor child?"

Gajeel jumped as Pantherlily came in the room, shaking his head. "I was - I - NONE OF YOUR FUCKIN' BUSINESS, CAT!" he roared, becoming flushed defensively.

Pantherlily screeched to a stop as he neared, tipping his head back as though he'd been punched, gagging convulsively. "What did you do, Gajeel?" he cried, clutching his nose. The Exceed's eyes widened as he put two and two together. "Is that_ her_? You let it get that bad?"

"Help me, Lily," Gajeel begged, waving the tongs hopelessly. "What'm I s'pose to do?"

"How should I know?" Pantherlily exclaimed. "It's not like I've ever changed a diaper!"

"What about that one kid you rescued? Cookie, or whatever!"

"You mean Coco? I never bothered with any of her diapers! There were nurses who were trained to do that. I do know that you're not supposed to use _those_," he added, gesturing to the gleaming kitchen tongs.

"Well, what am I supposed to do? I can't just let her sit here with an ass full of crap until Levy comes home!" Gajeel said.

Pantherlily sighed. "You'll just have to suck it up and do it, Gajeel. C'mon, you're the Iron Dragonslayer! You've managed worse before."

"Right," Gajeel said. He turned back to Eve and reeled when the aroma hit him full in the face. He grasped the counter for support, gagging. "I think...I need...a mask."

"Gotcha!" Pantherlily scampered out of the room, coming back a few minutes later with a fully functional gas-mask. "This was the only one I can find. Hopefully it'll shut out the odor enough for you to just get it over with."

Gajeel nodded and slipped the heavy mask over his face, gratefully breathing in untainted air. "Okay, here we go," he said, taking a step toward Eve. One look at him and she erupted into tears, flailing her arms and legs all about.

"C'mon, Eve! It's me, Daddy!" Eve's wailing just got louder, as Gajeel's voice was strange and warped from behind the mask.

"What now?" Gajeel yelled over the din, turning on Pantherlily. "I can't change her diaper when she's freaking out like that!"

"I'll try and calm her down," Pantherlily volunteered, hopping up on the table and cooing to Eve, trying to get a pacifier in her mouth. His ears flicked as someone knocked on the door.

"I'll get it," Gajeel said, paying no heed to his appearance. He opened the door to Lucy, who yelped and jumped back when she saw the mask and the tongs. She frowned, peering at him through squinted eyes.

"Gajeel? Is that...is that you under there?"

"Bunny Girl!" Gajeel pulled off the restricting mask, blinking in the bright sunlight. "For once, I'm glad you're here."

"Um..."

"I need your help," he continued. "I don't got any idea how to change Eve's diaper, and she freakin' reeks."

"Is that what all..._this_ is for?" Lucy asked, gesturing to Gajeel's equipment.

"Yeah. Eve got kinda scared when she saw me."

"I don't blame her," Lucy scoffed, pushing her way inside the house. "Geez, Gajeel, I can't believe that Eve's already three months and you've never changed a single diaper."

"Whatever," Gajeel grumbled, scowling at the blonde. "Just show me what to do and scram. Why're you here, anyway?"

"Oh...uh...no reason just...returning a book to Levy-chan," Lucy fabricated with a smile.

"Yeah, right," Gajeel said skeptically. "Where's the book?"

"Darn! I must've left it at my apartment!"

Gajeel gaped at her. "Levy sent you to check up on me, didn't she?"

"No," Lucy snapped. "She sent me to check up on Eve."

"You gotta be kiddin' me! She don't even trust me for a few hours?"

Lucy gestured at Eve, who was no longer crying now that the big bad monster was gone. "Is it really_ that _hard to believe, seeing the situation you've gotten yourself into?" she said. Gajeel sulked, as he had no good retort. Lucy nodded smugly and turned to Eve, whose eyes were still bright from tears. "Now, watch and learn because you'll probably have to do this again before Levy-chan gets back. First you undo these little tabs on her sides and you peel back the front - "

Lucy was interrupted by a loud thunk behind her. She turned to see Gajeel had passed out and that the sound was his body hitting the kitchen floor. Blinking, she turned to Pantherlily for an explanation. "Dragonslayer nose," he said, tapping his own plugged, button nose. "Couldn't take the stench, I guess."

Rolling her eyes, Lucy bravely turned back to Eve and the disgusting diaper that's smell did, indeed, cause her to tear up a little bit. "Men," she scoffed.


	5. Six Months: Apples or Asparagus?

_**Author's Note**: So after this chapter I'll start moving through every year instead of every three to six months, since all of Eve's baby milestones are basically behind us now. Therefore the chapters will be a little bit longer, and Eve will gradually get more dialogue. Thanks for being so patient with my short chapters; I've been on kind of a lazy streak lately. Even my other stories are suffering because of it. But still you all review and favorite and motivate me, and I can't thank my readers enough. :)_

* * *

><p><strong>Six Months: Apples or Asparagus?<strong>

_Throb._

_Throb._

_Throb_.

Levy winced and massaged her temples, feeling the pulse from her pounding headache under her fingers. It sent wicked pains behind her eyes and down her nose, up into the base of her forehead. She took some asprin, hoping that the small dose would relieve her migraine. Levy didn't like taking more than one at a time while she was alone watching Eve (Gajeel was at the guild, scoping for a job), and her body was too small for large doses of medication anyway.

The source of her headache was sitting innocently in a high chair, sucking on a pacifier. Still, even the once foolproof device was beginning to lose its potency as Eve's tiny teeth began to poke out from her gums. Aside from an influx of drool and a new habit of sticking foreign items in her mouth, this new development also made Eve incredibly irritable. This resulted in volatility such as Levy had never before witnessed, and caused many a headache.

But peeking inside Eve's sore little mouth was enough to remind her who was in the greatest amount of pain.

"Time for lunch," Levy declared, clacking around the pantry for the jars of baby food. She plucked out two: one green, one yellowish. "What do you think, Eve? Apples or asparagus?"

Eve blinked at her twice, as though the answer were entirely too obvious.

"Apples it is," Levy agreed, putting the asparagus back in the pantry. She didn't know why Gajeel insisted on getting it; whether it was part of a balanced diet or not, it wasn't like Eve was going to actually eat the stuff.

She grabbed a gummy spoon from a drawer and popped open the lid to the jar, stirring the apple goop around. "Alright, Eve, open up..." she cooed, extracting the pacifier from her daughter's mouth and attempting to wiggle in the spoonful of applesauce as a replacement. Eve considered it for a moment, tasting it on her plump little lips, then yawned her mouth open wide with approval. She swished it around and swallowed, the short column of her throat moving with the motion.

Levy had another spoonful prepared, but Eve wasn't quite ready for it yet. She brought her tiny fist back and knocked the spoon from Levy's hands, spraying applesauce everywhere. Levy sighed, raising her eyebrows challengingly. "You have to eat _something_," she said.

Eve laughed merrily and clapped her sticky hands, flicking even more applesauce around. Levy felt the corners of her mouth twitch, her eyes soften. Eve had Gajeel's big, reckless grin.

"Look here, I gave you the good stuff," Levy said, swinging the spoon in Eve's face. "I could've made you suffer through asparagus. Is that what your really want? Asparagus?"

Eve gave another gummy grin and bounced up and down in her seat. Levy heaved a falsely tragic sigh and threw the applesauce in the refrigerator. "Alright, you asked for it." She brought out the asparagus and rinsed out the spoon. She sat down again and dipped it in. "Here we go."

Once she got it through the lip barrier, Levy's eyes widened with disbelief as Eve actually sat and considered the gelatinous green slime. She actually liked _that_ over applesauce?

Then Eve's face grew disgusted, and she promptly spit out the mushy asparagus. Levy held very still as Eve hiccupped in recovery, sticking out her tongue to rid it of the icky taste. She slowly reached up and wiped the asparagus off of her face, where Eve had spit it, assessing the food in disdain.

Levy heard a chuckle and turned to see Gajeel leaning back against the wall, watching them. "That's a nice look on you," he said, a wide smirk stretching across his face.

"Welcome home," Levy greeted sarcastically, giving him a look. She turned back to Eve, who was sucking on her applesauce-coated fist to rid herself of the asparagus flavor. Curiously Levy licked at a small bit of the green substance on her finger, recoiling immediately. "No wonder she spit that out! Ugh!"

Gajeel came over and appraised her, then bent down and licked some of the asparagus off of her cheek. She blushed ferociously as he tried it out on his tongue, making a sour face soon thereafter. "You're right. That stuff tastes like shit. Who got it?"

"You did," Levy accused, tossing the asparagus in the trash.

"Uh. Now we know why I shouldn't buy baby food."

Levy shook her head, wiping the last of the asparagus off her face with the palm of her hand. "I have to give her another bath now. Did you find any good jobs at the guild?"

"Nah, just stupid crap. I'll look again tomorrow."

Eve squirmed around in her chair impatiently, her mouth morphing into a pout. She did not like being ignored. "Ma! Mama!"

Levy and Gajeel froze with shock, gawking at their daughter. "Did she...did she just...?" Gajeel stuttered, gesturing to her in awe. Levy broke out into a delighted smile and squealed with glee, rushing over to Eve to wrap her in a fierce hug.

"She did! She did! She just said her first word! And it was mama!" Levy squealed again and scooped Eve out of her high chair, spinning her around the room without paying heed to the sticky state of the kitchen.

Gajeel sulked. "Well, it ain't like mama's a real word."

"You know it would be if she'd said dada," Levy snipped, sticking her tongue out. She beamed at Eve, holding the bewildered child up in the air. "I'm sure she'll say it soon anyway, because our little Eve is so smart!"

"Damn straight," Gajeel smirked, nodding as if he expected nothing less of his offspring. After a few more minutes of celebrating, he asked, "So, how're her teeth doin'?"

Levy set her down and poked at her mouth, peering inside. She smiled, a little bit nervously, a little bit excitedly. "Come see for yourself."

Gajeel frowned and squinted inside, eyes widening when he saw the tips of sharp canines protruding from her gums. "No way," he breathed.

Eve bit his finger.

"DAMMIT!" Gajeel cursed, glaring at the respective appendage. Instead of flinching at the sight of blood, he broke out into a wide grin and threw his head back, booming with laughter.

Eve gave him a smile identical to his own.


	6. One Year: A Trying Traipse

_**Author's Note:** So after this chapter, I will start going year by year instead of every three or four months. This chapter's short, but the next one will be long to make up for it. And while we're here, a thank you to all those who favorited and reviewed! :)_

* * *

><p><strong>One Year: A Trying Traipse<strong>

Gajeel plopped down in a seat at the guild, waving a hand at Mirajane for a tankard of ale. It seemed unlikely - no, _impossible - _that Gajeel the Iron Dragonslayer, who had defeated entire dark guilds single-handedly, could be worn out by a little person who averaged barely a foot and a half in height_._

Apparently Eve had inherited her father's physical prowess along with her mother's formidable intelligence, because as soon as she learned how to crawl, there was no stopping her. Especially when she used her damnable turbo-speed to duck behind feet and hide under tables. It was rare that Levy and Gajeel even brought her to the guild anymore, because she was so hard to catch. But they had to bring her around every once in a while, or else the guild would bombard their house; and for Gajeel, that just wouldn't do.

At a year, Eve was no doubt the cutest baby to behold in all of Fiore. Her thick black hair was always adorably askew, coming out from its bright ribbons, and her big brown eyes were constantly wide with wonder and curiosity. The females and even some of the men in Fairy Tail devoted much of their time and money dressing her up in cute clothes. She had clothes in every color and for every occasion, and accessories to match. But Eve also had acquired an esteemed sense of style, and she'd learned to refuse the frillier things after some idiot taught her the word "no" (which she used way too often for her own good).

"Gajeel!"

He turned at the sound of Lisanna's voice with a scowl on his face, but blinked in surprise when he saw that Eve was standing, gripping the edge of a chair with her dimpled little hands. Suddenly she let go and tottered for a few steps. She almost tipped forward, then readjusted her weight and fell right on her bottom. After a momentary look of shock, her eyes filled with tears and she began to cry.

Gajeel scowled as the guild surged toward her, their faces wrinkled with worry. "Don't touch her!" he boomed. They all froze, startled, as he slid off the stool and stomped over until he was stationed in front of Eve. She blinked at him, sniffing pitifully, and raised her arms to be carried. Gajeel stubbornly shook his head and took a step back. "C'mere," he ordered.

She began to crawl, and Gajeel continued to backward at a measured pace so that she made no progress in catching him. The tears disappeared, replaced by frustration. Angrily she grasped the edge of a chair and pushed herself into standing position, using it as a guide until Gajeel was too far away to reach from wood's solid assurance. She stopped.

Gajeel halted too, and raised an eyebrow. "You ain't gonna come get me?"

Once again Eve reached out with one arm for her father's embrace, summoning a look that would acquire anyone's sympathies. But Gajeel shook his head. "You gotta come over here, kid. I ain't impressed so far. You can't give up just 'cause you fell over once. I didn't raise a weakling like that. You gotta try again." He grinned at her. "So c'mon. Show me what you got."

"Don't taunt her like that, Gajeel!" Lucy snapped. "She's not an opponent! She's a child!"

"Shut up, Bunny Girl! I know what I'm doin'!"

Eve's brow crinkled as she realized that Gajeel was not going to come to her like everyone else would have done. She gave him a look of raw determination that he'd seen so many times on a different face, in an identical pair of eyes, and accepted his challenge, releasing the edge of the chair and hurtling herself in his direction. She made it four hurried steps before she toppled forward, catching herself with her hands. This time, it didn't stop her. Shooting Gajeel another look that clearly said, "I'm not done yet," she hoisted herself up and tried again, with the same result.

Gajeel tipped back his head and roared with laughter, then bent down to scoop her up. He threw her up in the air and caught her again. "Alright, alright, I'll give you props for that. I knew you weren't a crybaby."

Eve beamed and urged Gajeel to set her down. She continued to practice walking for the rest of the day, so that when Levy came back from the library she was able to teeter into her mother's embrace. This resulted in much applaud for Eve and equal punishment for Gajeel, because by the time they were making their way back home Eve was so scraped and bruised that she looked like she'd just brawled.

"Shows you how tough she is," Gajeel said, grinning at Eve in his arms. She had fallen asleep soon after they left the noise of the guild, exhausted from her first steps.

"Shows how reckless you are," Levy remarked, but she was smiling. She, too, was proud of their daughter.

A week later, Gajeel would look back on that day with a kind of disbelief. He'd had no idea what was in store for them, if he thought that Eve was tiring then. Sometimes he missed the all-to-brief period when she only knew how to crawl, but the look on her face when she reached a destination on her own two feet was enough to chase that feeling away.


	7. Two Years: A Week of Wretched Words

_**Author's Note**: This was my favorite chapter to write so far. :)_

* * *

><p><strong>Two Years: A Week of Wretched Words<strong>

It was a bright Sunday morning, one of those precious perfect days when winter starts to melt away in the sunny presence of spring. Levy had all the windows in the house open to the pleasant breeze, finally relieving the house of its reserves of stuffiness after being closed to the winter chill for so long. Eve sat in her high chair with a bowl of cereal, munching away and enjoying the chirping of the birds outside. Gajeel was still asleep and Pantherlily had left for his routine weekend spar with Erza.

Levy was in a fabulous mood that morning, humming quietly as she prepared some tea and a bowl of cereal for herself. She set her bowl on the table next to Eve and went to retrieve the novel she was reading. Blowing on her tea, she took a precarious sip just as she entered the kitchen and Eve dropped her spoon on the ground.

"Fuck!" the little girl exclaimed, frowning as she extended her arm for the dislodged utensil. Levy screeched to a stop and choked on her tea, coughing violently as it dribbled down her chin and she struggled to regulate her breathing. After the fit was over, Levy gaped at Eve with wide eyes. _Did she say that? Did she really just say what I think she said?_

Certainly it couldn't be so. Little girls didn't say those kinds of words. Then again, girls as little as Eve hadn't yet learned that those kinds of words were bad ones, unsuitable for young tongues that would abuse such language. But where could she have learned such a word?

It wasn't hard for Levy to deduce the source for Eve's new vocabulary. Even after two years of Eve's existence, Gajeel had yet to trim curses from his every day usage. There was really no need to, until this point. Eve had never uttered one of Gajeel's colorful swears, but she was a quick learner when it came to articulating. Still, Levy was bewildered. The single syllable was so alien coming from her mouth, the sound so strange in her voice, that it completely threw Levy off guard.

"You gonna get that for her, or what?" Gajeel nudged past and picked the spoon up off the floor, rinsing it in the sink before handing it back to Eve. He returned to Levy and grabbed her waist, drawing her in for a kiss. Levy was momentarily distracted, closing her eyes as she ran her tongue across Gajeel's pointed teeth, until the Iron Dragonslayer yelped and leapt back. Levy had accidentally spilled her piping-hot tea down his front.

"Gajeel! I'm so sorry!" she squeaked, her face coloring in mortification. Quickly she put some ice in a rag and brought it over to him.

"No big deal, it mainly got on my shirt," he replied, stripping off the garment. He took her hand with the ice pack in it and pressed it to the vivid pink spot on his stomach, burned from the tea. Levy hung her head when she realized that the tea had also gotten on her book, staining and wrinkling the pages. How, exactly, would she explain that to the library?

"Are you okay?" she asked, swatting his hand away as she removed the ice pack to assess his wound. It was a pink welt about the size of a football, but it didn't seem to be blistering.

"I'm fine, shorty," Gajeel scoffed, as if the idea of something mundane like hot tea defeating him was ludicrous. "You forget who you're talkin' to."

"Right," Levy said, rolling her eyes. She handed him the ice pack to continue administering to the welt, grabbing two mugs in preparation for more tea. It was then that she remembered Eve's little blunder of speech, and she froze as she filled the teapot with water.

"Oi," Gajeel said, taking notice, "somethin' wrong?"

"Gajeel, did you hear what Eve said before you came in?"

"Nah, I wasn't really payin' attention to her."

Levy set the teapot on the burner of the stove. She looked over at Eve, oblivious as she picked at her cereal, then whispered conspiratorially, "She dropped her spoon and she said"- Levy lowered her voice even further -"she said the f-word."

"What?" Gajeel blinked. "She said fu - ?"

"Shhhhh!" Levy hissed, sparing Eve another glance. "Yes, she said _that _word!"

Gajeel shrugged. "What's wrong with _that _word?"

"She's two," Levy pointed out, extending the numerically correct amount of fingers for emphasis. "A two-year-old can't go around saying stuff like that."

"Why not? Metallicana always let me say what was on my mind, even if it wasn't always, you know, clean," Gajeel persisted, taking a bite of Levy's soggy cereal.

"Yes but, no offense, I don't want Eve talking like you do," Levy said slowly, carefully measuring each word. "At least not at the age of two. Preferably not ever, but certainly not at two."

Gajeel shrugged. "So, tell her it's wrong."

"That's not enough. Her exposure to such language needs to be as limited as possible until she's old enough to understand that those are adult words," Levy said.

"What are you saying?" Gajeel growled, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm saying," Levy continued, undeterred, "that I think it's time to implement a swear jar."

And so began the worst week of Gajeel's life.

He refused to comply at first, until Eve dropped the f-bomb three more times that day alone, along with a multitude of other colorful words. And the worst part was she used them _correctly_. Finally Gajeel submitted to Levy's idea and the swear jar was established at five jewels a word.

On Monday, Levy collected two hundred and thirty jewels from Gajeel, filling up half the jar. She swirled the jewels around and donated five of her own. "I got a papercut earlier, and it kind of slipped out," she explained. Gajeel wasn't listening. Two-hundred and thirty jewels. Forty-six cuss words in just one day, if his math was correct. He fell back on the pillows as Levy placed the jar on the bedside table and turned off her reading lamp, wiggling under his arm and nestling her head into the space under his chin, where it fit perfectly. "Don't worry," she yawned, "it'll get easier. Just remember it's for Eve."

Tuesday morning, Gajeel dropped his pancakes on the floor and accidentally shouted, "Dammit!" Eve jumped in her seat and did the same, chirping the vile word like a little mockingbird. Gajeel begrudgingly placed five jewels in the jar, and attempted to explain to Eve that word was one she was not allowed to say. Naturally, it was her favorite word of the day. By the time night rolled around, Gajeel had deposited another one hundred and fifty jewels and Levy had to get a new jar.

Gajeel decided to go to the guild on Wednesday, hoping to escape the jar just for a few hours. A few drinks later, he was beginning to argue with the Salamander when Mirajane slammed an empty glass jar on the counter. "I believe you owe me..." She paused, counting on her fingers. "...thirty jewels." The beautiful barmaid beamed when Gajeel gaped at her in disbelief. "Levy told me about it. If you don't brake the habit cold turkey, then Eve is going to have a mouth like a sailor. And we wouldn't want that, would we?" Begrudgingly Gajeel dug around in his pocket, paying his tab with the swear fee and heading home.

Pantherlily found them a mission for Thursday, and Gajeel accompanied him to Clover Town to defeat the minor dark guild there, Twisted Dagger. When the battle was over and they emerged triumphant, Pantherlily held out a jar to his partner. "That will be seventy-five jewels," he demanded, shaking the jar expectantly.

"Are you kidding me? You too?" Gajeel exclaimed. Pantherlily was supposed to be his partner, his friend, his ally in every argument that didn't involve interior design. How could he side with Levy on this?

"Sorry, but she makes a good point," Pantherlily explained, reading his mind. "You've got a rancid potty-mouth, and Eve is never going to quit if you don't. She looks up to you, Gajeel. You're her father." Gajeel sourly put seventy-five jewels into the jar, then vented his frustration by wrecking the rest of the dark guild's headquarters. After that, he had to put out another fifteen jewels for the three words he let slip out on the way back.

Friday was a little easier. He didn't arrive home from Clover until well into the afternoon, and for the duration of the day he spent time with Levy and Eve. They went to the park and played on the jungle gym, swinging high into the air and slipping down slides. Then they got ice cream across the street and watched as the sun sank below the horizon and the fireflies came out. Gajeel helped Eve catch some, but stressed the importance of releasing them afterward.

"If you don't let 'em go, they won't shine anymore," he cautioned, watching the insect crawl on his hand until it opened its wings and took flight, signaling to its brethren with quick flashes of yellow light. "We like it when they shine, right?"

Eve nodded, and Gajeel let her hold the next one he caught. She giggled as its legs tickled her hand, and let it go when it was time to leave. Gajeel only had to put in twenty jewels when Levy held out the jar on their way home.

Still, Levy could tell that the stress of not being able to express his feelings in his usual coarse manner was wearing on Gajeel. So on Saturday she took Eve to the library and let him have the day to himself, with no one to monitor his language. Eve's swearing had depleted dramatically since the swear jar was put into action, so she decided that he deserved this little break. It had to have been hard foregoing a form of communication he'd used since he was a child.

Levy had never been prouder when she got home and there were an additional twenty jewels in the jar. "Did you spend the day with Lily?" she asked, setting Eve on the ground where she padded over to her father, arms outstretched.

"Nah, he had stuff to do. I hung out here by myself," Gajeel answered, pulling Eve onto the couch beside him.

Levy plopped down on his other side, raising her eyebrows. "There are twenty jewels in the swear jar."

"I know, I know," Gajeel grumbled, frowning. "I let a few words slip, okay? I can't censor every freakin' thing that comes outta my mouth right from the get-go."

Levy grinned and surprised him by grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him in for a thoroughgoing kiss. "Thank you," she purred, resting her head on his shoulder. "I know this must be hard for you."

"S'not so bad," Gajeel shrugged, feigning indifference. He gestured to Eve, who had grown bored with the lack of attention she was getting and gone to inspect one of the Iron Dragonslayer's metal trinkets. "And Eve's not cussing anymore, so that's good."

They watched as Eve curiously turned the metal contraption over in her hands and accidentally lost her grip. "Dammit," she muttered, bending down to retrieve it. Gajeel hung his head as Levy chuckled.

"Well," she said, "at least she's not dropping the f-bomb anymore."

"It's a start," Gajeel sighed.

"It's a start," Levy agreed.


	8. Three Years: Bumps and Bruises

_**Author's Note:** This one is a bit more serious than the others, but it's uplifting in the end. :) Thanks for all the reviews, make sure you let me know your thoughts!_

* * *

><p><strong>Three Years: Bumps and Bruises<strong>

The sound of Gajeel's footsteps thundered down the streets of Magnolia as he ran hard and fast toward the hospital, as urgently or even more so than he'd done the day Eve was born. This time it was not the Salamander who accompanied him; it was Pantherlily flying overhead after delivering the frantic message from Levy.

It had been a brief statement ("Gajeel, Levy needs you! Eve's in the hospital!") but that alone had been enough to send Gajeel barreling down the streets of the town like a bullet. Scenarios formed in his head as he ran, and the horrific scenes only made him pick up his speed. His heart was hammering, but it was not solely from the physical exertion; Gajeel realized that he was truly, utterly afraid, more afraid than ever he'd been before. The thought of his daughter being harmed in any way wrenched his gut and shot cold fear through the marrow of his bones, but it also put a writhing inferno of rage in his belly.

If anyone was responsible, he would not hesitate to rip their head off.

By the time Gajeel arrived to the hospital, he was a sweaty, panting, seething mess. People bustling about cringed when he entered the room and hurried about their business, eager to be gone from his oppressing storm of emotions.

Gajeel scanned the room for Levy, but she was already in his arms before he he'd even taken stock of his surroundings. She was even more of a mess than he was, her tiny body trembling as she shook with uncontrollable sobs. Her words were jumbled and indecipherable, and her voice was borderline hysterical.

Inside it crushed him to see her in such a state, a panic to the likes of which she'd never displayed, not even that night so long ago when he tortured her and Jet and Droy. Recounting the tactics he'd used then did not help his feelings now. Something really bad must have happened to make her like this.

Not adhering to the stares they were getting from the crowd, he scooped her up and carried her over to the chairs in the busy waiting room, grabbing a Styrofoam cup of water from the water cooler in the corner. He handed to her and waited for her story with a patience that he didn't know he possessed.

Finally he couldn't contain himself. "What happened, shorty? Lily didn't tell me anything."

"I was at the library with Eve," Levy began between hiccups, "and we were walking out. I - I had dropped the books I was carrying and I let go of her hand while I p-picked them up..." She erupted into a new bout of tears, burying her face in her hands. Through them she manged to relay the rest of the story: she and Eve had been walking down the cement steps outside the entrance to the library, and when she'd dropped the books Eve bent over to pick one up, lost her footing, and tumbled down the last few stairs.

When she came to this part of the story, couldn't get out any more. Gajeel sighed and took her in his arms, letting her cry it out. Inside, his stomach did another painful twist. How bad was Eve hurt? Would she be okay? Was anything broken? How bad was Eve hurt? How bad?

Levy clutched the front of his shirt, empty of tears. "I was so scared, Gajeel," she whispered, shaking her head as if to rid herself of the memory. "There was so much blood...and she was _screaming_..." Levy shuddered violently. "I can't believe I let her get hurt! I'm such a horrible mother!"

Pantherlily, who had arrived just seconds after Gajeel, patted her leg consolingly. "The sheer fact that you're so upset about this is an indication that you're not a horrible mother, Levy. It was an accident, after all; there was nothing you could have done to prevent it."

"You don't get it!" snapped Levy, unearthing herself from the folds of Gajeel's shirt to glare at the Exceed with red, puffy eyes. "They were _cement stairs_, Lily! Evelyn could have _died_!"

"Oi!" Gajeel barked, cupping her chin in his hand so she would have to look at him. "She ain't dead and she ain't gonna die, so stop talkin' about it! You wouldn't let that happen."

"But - "

Gajeel covered her mouth with his hand. "Stop. Talking. I don't wanna hear another word out of you 'til Doc comes out with Eve, got it? Then we'll see what _she _thinks."

Levy scowled until he removed his hand, but she didn't say anything else.

The next hour was the most grueling of Gajeel's life. Levy was rigid and tense in his arms, never taking her eyes off of the door she claimed they'd taken Eve. Gajeel couldn't sit still, but he didn't dare move from his seat. He tapped his feet, drummed his fists on the arms of the too-small chair, combed through Levy's unruly blue hair with his fingers. Anything, _anything _to keep himself occupied. Pantherlily had flown back to Fairy Tail to deliver the news, and soon the guild filled up the majority of the vinyl waiting room seats. Wendy even offered to see if there was anything she could do to help the doctors with Eve, but the nurses wouldn't let her.

Finally, a doctor in a white medical coat came out, carrying Eve in his arms. There was gauze wrapped around her head and on her arms, as well as several more bandages on her legs. She wiggled out of the doctor's grasp when she saw her parents in the waiting room, running across the tile floor with her little arms wide open. "Mommy!" she cried.

Levy shot out of her seat and caught Eve in a crushing embrace, kissing the top of her head and her face and any other part of her she could reach while she laughed and cried at the same time. Gajeel was paralyzed by the waves of utter relief that crashed through his body and drained his limbs of all energy. He numbly watched as Levy showered their daughter with love and affection, as if it would heal her wounds then and there.

"...You were very lucky," the doctor was saying. "She suffered no severe head trauma or broken bones, only a few bumps and bruises. I'd say she'll be all healed up in two, three weeks tops. Please come in if you notice any inflammation or..."

The rest of the doctor's words became indistinct and hazy as the stress of the day's events came crashing down onto Gajeel all at once.

"You okay?" Pantherlily inquired, waving a hand in front of his face. Gajeel swatted it away with mild irritation, his arm flopping back down on the chair uselessly. He tipped back his head and groaned, relieving himself of a fraction of the anxiety that had built up over the day.

"I...think I need a drink."

* * *

><p><strong>THREE MONTHS LATER...<strong>

Gajeel jolted awake as Levy's blood-curdling scream echoed through the house, chilling his bones and making his hair stand on end. He threw off the blankets and bolted down the hallway and into the kitchen, where the outcry had come from. He screeched to a halt in the threshold and swiveled around, aimlessly searching for the source of Levy's distress.

Levy sat in the middle of the kitchen floor, fretting over Eve relentlessly. Gajeel listened to her gush while her hands fluttered over the little girl's puzzled face.

"Eve! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I can't believe I - oh gods, you're bleeding! Gajeel! Gajeel, call the hospital, go to Wendy, do something! Eve, she's hurt again! I can't believe I let this happen again..."

Gajeel allowed her to prattle on as he stepped forward and studied Eve more closely. There, on the tip of her tiny little nose, was a single dot of fresh blood. "What happened?" he asked, licking his index finger and wiping away the blood.

"She scratched herself. I need to clip her nails...where did you put the fingernail clippers, Gajeel? Are they in the medicine cabinet or are they up in her room? Do you think she needs a band-aid? Should I disinfect it? A lot of bacteria live underneath fingernails, you know. What if it gets infection?" Levy gasped. "Do you think they'll have to cut off her nose? We can't let our daughter be nose-less!"

Gajeel and Eve silently watched as Levy scrambled into the bathroom in search of either fingernail clippers, band-aids, or disinfectant (Gajeel wasn't entirely sure which). He exchanged a glance with Eve and shook his head. "It's gonna be a while before your mom gets over this. I kinda feel bad for you." He stopped and grinned sadistically. "You wanna _really _freak her out? C'mon, let's go play outside."

Then he picked her up and carried her out the door, counting to five before he heard Levy scream bloody murder for the second time that morning.


	9. Four Years: Pulchritudinous

_**Author's Note**: A long chapter that I thought would be a cute idea, though I had a little bit of trouble writing a certain part. You'll know what I mean when you get there. ;)_

* * *

><p><strong>Four Years: Pulchritudinous<strong>

"...And they lived happily ever after." Levy shut the book of fairytales and smiled at Eve. "Alright, time for bed!"

"Read another one, pleeease?" Eve begged, blinking her big brown eyes at Levy. The blunette raised an eyebrow and shook her head, impervious to the girl's tricks.

"That won't work on me, only on Daddy. Where do you think you got that from?"

Eve stuck out her lower lip but complied nonetheless, laying down as Levy pulled the blankets up to her chin and tucked her into bed. Inevitably the girl tried another tactic of procrastination; anything to forego sleep. "That story reminded me of you and Daddy."

"Beauty and the Beast," Levy chuckled. Somehow, it seemed fitting.

"Did you guys live happily ever after?"

"Well of course," Levy replied, kissing Eve's nose. "We had you, and nothing could have made us happier. Except maybe if you went to sleep; that would make me really happy."

"Mommy," Eve continued, ignoring the last comment, "Asuka said her parents told her that two people have to get married before they have a baby. But Lucy-nee said you and Daddy weren't married."

Levy frowned. "Well...you don't necessarily have to be married to have a baby, but usually people do get married before they really consider having one. We were just...different."

"Why didn't you get married?"

"We never really thought about it," Levy replied honestly. She gave Eve a look. "Now, stop trying to distract me. It's time for bed."

Eve huffed. "Fine, but I've got one more question."

"What?"

"If you don't have to get married to have a baby, then where do babies come from?"

"That," Levy said, "is a discussion for another day."

Later, as Levy was preparing for bed herself, she began to think. Eve's inquiry did have a certain truth to it: generally, when people were in love, they got married. Bisca and Alzack were a prime example. Levy couldn't think of loving anyone more than she loved Gajeel, and there was no doubt in her mind that he felt the same way. Levy knew that, if he'd asked, she would have undeniably said yes.

Still deep in thought, Levy flopped into bed beside Gajeel and stared at the ceiling, ignoring the book on her bedside table in favor of this activity. Gajeel raised an eyebrow at her curious behavior, then followed her gaze. "I don't see anything up there," he remarked.

"Gajeel," Levy sighed, sitting up and pulling her knees to her chest, "how long have we been together?"

Gajeel blanched. "Shit! Is it our anniversary or somethin'? You never cared about that before, so I didn't really bother to - "

"No, it's not our anniversary. That's July 5th, by the way."

"Oh," Gajeel said, though he looked rather relieved. "Then, I dunno...I guess it's gotta be at least five years, since Eve's four and we were...you know...together before then...how come?"

Levy squirmed. "Well...have you ever thought about...about getting married?"

"Married?" Gajeel blinked. "Husband and wife, you-may-kiss-the-bride kind of married?"

"Yeah."

Gajeel rubbed the back of his neck, thinking. "I never really considered it, but...if you wanted to...I mean..."

Levy's mouth twitched upward as she watched him fumble for words, and saw the red blush crawl up his neck. "Gajeel," she giggled, "are you trying to ask me to marry you?"

He looked up. "How'm I doin'?"

"Awful."

"Well, I'm not good at this gushy crap!" he snapped, his ears as well as the back of his neck going bright crimson. "Do you wanna marry me or not?"

"Daddy!" Both Levy and Gajeel jumped violently, having not noticed Eve walk in. She scowled at her father with her hands on her hips, tapping her foot impatiently. "That's not how you're s'pose to do it," she chastised. "Get up and stand in front of Mommy."

"Eve, what're you doin' outta bed?"

"I _was _gonna ask for a glass of water," Eve replied with her usual sassiness, "but now I'm helping you ask Mommy to marry you. Get up and stand in front of her."

Gajeel, grumbling, followed his daughter's instructions. Levy pressed her lips together, resisting the urge to laugh.

"Now," Eve said, "get down on one knee."

"Wha - why? Why can't I just ask her standin' up?"

"_Because_, that's just how you do it!"

Gajeel kneeled in front of Levy, muttering under his breath.

"Alright, now take her hand and tell her how you feel."

His ears went even brighter red when he took her hand, tiny in his own. "Do I have to...?" he mumbled, glancing over at Eve.

She huffed, blowing her black bangs out of her face. "Yes. First, tell her how pretty she is."

Levy looked down at herself, dressed in one of Gajeel's black t-shirts that she used as a nightgown, her hair out of its bandana, her feet bare and swinging over the side of the bed. She shifted uncomfortably. "Um, you can skip that part."

"No, he's gotta do it right. Go on, Daddy, you can do it."

Gajeel look like he was going to object, then cleared his throat and studiously kept his eyes trained on a frayed edge of the blanket. "Well...you know I ain't any good with words, so here goes nothin'. I can't really think of a word other than _beautiful_ to describe you, even though it's not enough. I'm sure you'd be able to come up with one better. You're all tiny and delicate, but you're not weak...you're like an iron rose, or somethin' like that." Face burning, he glanced at Eve. "Are we almost done?"

"Almost. Now, tell her your favorite things about her."

"The way you smell," Gajeel answered immediately, causing Levy to chuckle. "I ain't kidding! You smell like parchment and ink and sunlight. You're always warm, and you're almost always laughing or smiling. And you're soft," he added, running his thumbs along the palm of her hand. "You're also too damn smart for your own good, which pisses me off sometimes, but it's also a major - " He stopped and glanced at Eve, clearing his throat again. "Well, you know what I mean. I guess what I'm tryin' to say is that you're just so _good_, it makes me wanna be better just so I might be able to hold a candle to you one day."

Tears were streaming down Levy's face was she watched him mutter his adorations, his face radiating so much heat that if she licked her finger and pressed it to his cheek, she would expect a sizzling sound. It wasn't often that Gajeel revealed even a trifle of his feelings for her verbally, but it made her swell with love and pride to hear him say it. She thought that much of what was coming out of his mouth was exaggeration of epic proportions. Surely she wasn't as _good _or as _beautiful _as he saw her; the picture he painted with his words was of an angelic (Levy would go as far as to say _godly_) woman who turned the head of everyone she passed, and that was certainly not Levy.

But she decided that it didn't matter. Gajeel thought that she was extraordinary, and she turned his head when she walked by, and he was all she cared about.

"Now," Eve whispered, her bones humming with a kind of instinctual knowledge that this exchange between her parents was one of great intimacy, "tell her why you want to marry her."

"I love you," Gajeel said without hesitation. Levy smiled at the rare words, ones that she'd only heard from him a handful of times. Gajeel never uttered them frivilously; he always meant it with every fiber of his being.

"Now ask her."

Gajeel grinned in his usual reckless manner, his grip tightening on her hand. "So what d'you say, shorty? You gonna marry me or what?"

Levy pretended to consider it for a second, and she saw Gajeel's smile falter and slide away. Then she gave him a mischievous smile of her own. "How can I say no after such a spectacular speech? You should really go into politics, Gajeel, you've got a silver tongue in your possession."

"Shut up and c'mere," Gajeel growled, pulling her completely off the bed and crushing his mouth to hers with a furosity that was new, but not entirely unwelcome, to her. She came away disheveled and breathless, eyes bright with excitement, and her heart skipped a beat when she saw that Gajeel looked the same.

"Such a way with words," she gasped.

Eve jumped up and down like a little bird, clapping enthusiastically. "Lucy-nee's gonna be so happy!" Then she stopped and rubbed her hands together in a sadistic manner. "And Uncle Macao owes me twenty jewels..."

Levy and Gajeel exchanged a glance.

"Eve," Levy said, "I think you need to stop hanging out with Cana."

* * *

><p><strong>APPROXIMATELY ONE WEEK LATER...<strong>

Gajeel could not believe his eyes.

He'd never been so appalled at the state of the guild since he came home to the streamers of baby pink and balloons of similar shades that marked the day of Eve's birth.

It had only been a few days since he and Levy shared the news that they were engaged. They'd been fully prepared to include Fairy Tail in their wedding (or at least, Levy was; Gajeel was still in shock that he'd actually managed to propose in a decent manner) and expected that their guild mates would dictate the entire proceedings.

However, neither Levy nor Gajeel suspected that even Fairy Tail could manage to host a wedding in only the course of about a week.

Yet here was the proof laid out before him. The guild had been transformed into a cascade of cream ribbons, bows, and banners all with accents of striking silver. Tables which were usually scattered about the guild according to the whims of their occupants were now stationed in neat, orderly rows, allowing a direct passage from the entrance of the guild to the bar. In the front center of the bar was a arc of ivory-colored lattice, courtesy of Laki's wood-make skills, of which dozens of blue and silver roses were intwined.

"Admiring our handy-work?" Jet and Droy came over, adorned in suits of orange and green, respectively, and looking rather proud of themselves. Droy followed his gaze to the roses and his grin widened.

"I created those myself. As a gift for Levy," he said, but Gajeel's hypersensitive ears caught him muttering, "and you too, I guess," under his breath.

"Most of this was Lucy and Mirajane though," Jet admitted. His gaze turned to one of detached awe. "It's amazing what women can do when they get really determined."

Gajeel snorted in agreement.

"We just came over to wish you and Levy a happy marriage." Jet stopped and scowled at his friend, roughly elbowing him in the ribs.

"Yeah," Droy muttered, his fish-tail hairstyle drooping ever so slightly.

Jet rolled his eyes. "Anyway, we just wanted you to know that even though we've had our differences in the past, we _completely_" - he shot another look at Droy - "support your decision and we've accepted it. You make Levy happy, and that's all that matters."

Gajeel quirked an eyebrow at them. The speech sounded stale and rehearsed, and fish-tail guy wasn't exactly convincing. But he supposed that they _were _Levy's best friends and Eve's favorite uncles (though he couldn't imagine why), so he should probably be nice to them.

"Yeah," he said. "Thanks."

The stooges left with curt nods, heading back into the bustling crowd. Gajeel unconsciously fussed with the cuffs on his tuxedo, wrinkling his nose in distaste. If there was only one force on Earthland that could have convinced every male in Fairy Tail to adorn the proper attire to this wedding, it was the combined malice of their female counterparts. Gajeel shuddered when he remembered it: the mutinious uproar when the women discovered that hardly any of the men owned suits, and the fierce battle that ensued. In the end, it was the wrath of one unlikely girl that forced the men to submit.

"If you don't dress nice for Mommy's wedding," Eve boomed at the top of her squeaky four-year-old voice, "then I'll get Gramps to shrink you all into little dolls, and I'll dress you myself!" And no one doubted the truth of these words, because Makarov doted over Eve like any self-respecting grandfather should.

Gajeel had never been so proud, even if the threat was at his expense.

He jumped when Pantherlily tugged on his trousers, dressed in a miniature white suit. "How are you doing?" the Exceed asked, with a hint of concern. Gajeel noticed that people were sitting down. It must be almost time to begin.

"Fine," Gajeel said honestly. He was not nervous or anything; he had no doubts about being bonded to Levy in this manner, although he'd never even considered it before a few days ago. Now, nothing had ever felt so right to him. His only regret was that Metalicana wouldn't be there to see it, even if the ancient dragon didn't indulge in human pleasantries or rituals.

Still, a part of him wished that his foster father could one day meet Levy and Eve.

"I'm glad," Pantherlily said, once more interrupting his brief reverie.

Gajeel scoffed. "Don't go all mushy on me now, cat."

"Says the man who was bawling when I agreed to stay with him here in Earthland in the first place." Pantherlily paused, his ears flicking when he caught the fluid music of a piano. "It's time. Get up there."

They made their way up to the arc of wood and roses, standing in attention as the band's melody blared with more gusto and the crowd watched the maids of honor walk down the isle with their respective partners: Lucy with Natsu, Mirajane with Fried, Lisanna with Bixlow, surprisingly enough, an elated Juvia with Gray, and Evergreen (who somehow managed to wedge herself into the assembly) with Elfman. All of the bridesmaids were dressed in turquoise dresses, styles tailored to flatter their figures, and the men were dressed in simple black tuxedoes like Gajeel.

Eve came out too, looking absolutely adorable in a cream-colored dress, her thick black hair done up in curls, carrying the rings on a pillow in her arms.

And then Charle emerged with Wendy, both dressed in a similar fashion, carrying baskets of delicate white rose petals which they tossed on the ground and, occasionally, particular people in the crowd.

The audience stood, looking back at the entrance to the guild.

Levy stepped through the threshold, and Gajeel thought for a moment that he would never breathe again; he thought his heart might stop; he, Gajeel Redfox, thought that his knees might go out on him. Levy's appearance had the effect of a physical blow, as though a wind had swept through the room and sucked all the air out.

She wore a sweeping gown of a creamy material that Gajeel couldn't even name; it hugged her body and fluttered out at the waist, ending at her feet in a swirling mass of fabric and lace. The train wasn't very long, as not to overwhelm her small frame, cascading down her back and past her feet like folded wings of an angel. Her shoulders remained bare except for the two straps of lace that held dress up. Her thoat had no jewelery, but under the sheer of her veil there was a diadem of silver and diamonds.

That wasn't even what took Gajeel's breath away.

It was her face.

Her smiling, gorgeous, amazing, incredable face; the happiest face he had ever seen her make since Eve's birth. It pleased him to know that he was the cause of that smile, and it made him feel as though he had repented for his past sins, maybe just a little, because of it.

Gajeel didn't even notice Jet and Droy until they had let go of Levy; they'd each claimed an arm. She stepped across from him and continued to smile behind her veil, beaming at him with her big brown eyes like he was the most wonderful thing in the world. Which, of course, he was not; though she might have been, along with Eve.

In the lull that followed, he whispered to her the word he'd spent all night looking for in the dictionary. "Have I ever told you you're freaking pulchritudinous?"

And Levy's laughter rang out through the guild like a peal of bells, the most perfect sound in the world.

Except maybe that word, because he'd spent an awful lot of time looking for it.


	10. Five Years: School Supplies

_**Author's Note:** This one shows off Gajeel's softer side. :D_

* * *

><p><strong>Five Years: School Supplies<strong>

Levy and Gajeel surveyed their daughter as she munched on her breakfast alone in the kitchen, her tiny feet swinging over the edge of the chair. Her bookbag sat on the chair next to her, clean and stiff with newness, containing pencils, erasers, binders, and other various supplies. Her school uniform was pressed and ironed, and she was trying very hard not to splash any milk or cereal on the pleated blue skirt or white shirt.

Today was Eve's first day of kindergarden.

Gajeel's ears flicked when he heard Levy sniff beside him. He looked and saw that she was getting ready to dissolve into tears, her mouth pressed into a white line, her eyes big and shiny. Gajeel grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from the scene before she hiccuped and the first torrent of water works came down.

"I can't b-believe it!" she sobbed, throwing her arms around Gajeel's waist and burying her face in his chest. "She's g-going to school! School! Sh-she's gotten so big..."

"C'mon, shorty, you gotta pull yourself together," Gajeel hissed frantically, pulling her away so he could look at her. "I thought you said you'd be okay today? That's why you stayed home with us, remember? You can't go out there cryin' or else you're gonna scare her."

"Y-you're right," Levy said, squaring her shoulders and wiping her tears away with the back of her wrist. "I'll contain myself until...until..." Her eyes grew watery again, and she let out another sob. "Until she leaves for school!"

"Atta girl," Gajeel remarked dryly, patting her head as she embraced him again. He sat her down on the couch and ordered her to stay put while he got Eve ready, in the hopes that she would manage to clean herself up before they left. He and Levy decided that it would be best that he walk her over. Levy promised she wouldn't get emotional before they left, but she wasn't sure if she could contain herself for a whole two blocks.

Eve was just finishing up her cereal when Gajeel walked in. "You ready to go?" he asked, taking her bowl.

"Yeah!" she cheered, hopping off of the stool and padding over to her shiny black shoes. With careful concentration she clasped them to her feet. Gajeel watched, amused, as her brows puckered and her tongue poked out between her teeth. Then she smiled smugly after the Shoe Challenge was successfully triumphed. She hopped up and tested the little shoes, tapping her heels on the tile floor.

"Good job," Gajeel praised. "Now, let's go say bye to Mom and then we'll leave."

Levy had managed to pull herself together just to say goodbye, but despite her valiant effort she still let a little hiccup out when she hugged Eve. "Your bow is crooked," she sniffed, turning the little girl around so she could adjust the small blue ribbon that held back her cumbersome bangs. "There you go. H-have a good day at school."

Gajeel decided to get Eve out of there as fast as possible, lest she be bombarded by her mother's hugs, kisses, and tears.

Eve chatted animatedly about her excitement as they journeyed the two blocks to Magnolia Elementary School. "All of my friends are in my class and it's gonna be so much fun! Mrs. Paraso is s'posed to be really nice, and I heard that she lets us have a lot of recess time and we do a lot of crafts and stuff."

"Sounds fun," Gajeel agreed. He remembered Mrs. Paraso from a job he once did; not bad, as far as teachers go. She was old and nice, but she knew how to keep the kids in line. Which was good, since Eve liked to push the limits sometimes.

"It does! I can't wait!" Eve fiddled with the straps of her backpack for a second, suddenly quiet. "Hey, Daddy, how did you like your first day of school?"

Gajeel scratched his neck. "I didn't really go to school. I was, uh, home-schooled."

"Oh," Eve said. She grinned. "That explains a lot."

Gajeel gave her an exaggerated astonished look. "What d'you mean, that explains a lot? What exactly does it explain?"

"Nothing, Daddy, I was just kidding," Eve snickered. The great brick building that was the school came into view, swarming with children that ranged from five years old to about ten years old. They climbed on jungle gyms like little hairless monkeys, hooting and hollering and being overall obnoxious.

For the first time, Gajeel felt his stomach twist.

He glanced down at his own kid, who observed the proceedings with wide, bewildered eyes. He saw that her bookbag was nearly half her height, and that her hair was already starting to come out of its ribbon. She was tiny when compared to the lumbering fifth graders who patrolled the school. What if...?

Gajeel shook his head to clear it. No what ifs. Eve was tough like him, so she wouldn't let anybody intimidate her. But she was also smart, so she wouldn't jump into every altercation she could. Eve would be okay. She would do good.

Asuka, Bisca and Alzack's daughter, saw them and waved. Eve returned the favor, looking nervous about joining the older girl, who was surrounded by her friends. The bell rang and the students converged into one mass, streaming into the school.

"I'll see you later," Gajeel said, patting her on the head. "Have fun at school, alright?"

"Okay. Bye-bye, Daddy." Much to his surprise, Eve hugged his leg before hurrying off to catch up with Asuka, who had separated herself from the crowd to wait for her young friend. Gajeel watched them until they were swallowed by the other students and he could no longer see either of their heads bobbing up and down with the rest.

Gajeel let out a breath that he hadn't noticed he was holding. He watched as the last of the students scampered inside and the front doors closed. He stood there until the late bell rang. He still stood there until finally it sank in that she was gone, and that there was little to nothing he could do to ensure her well-being at this point.

"I guess it's all up to her now," he muttered to himself. But Eve was smart and tough and confident for one her age; she would do well in school. Reassured, he turned on his heel and began marching back the way he had come, wondering what kind of state Levy would be in when he arrived home.


	11. Six Years: Dental Deities

_**Author's Note:** This is one that I just couldn't resist doing, even though I think that six is a little late for a kid to lose their first tooth. Oh well. Details, details. :P_

* * *

><p><strong>Six Years: Dental Deities<strong>

"Hey, Mommy! Look!"

Levy wrinkled her nose as she peered into Eve's gaping mouth, watching as the girl wiggled her bottom incisor to and fro with her tongue. It did answer one question of Levy's: she hadn't been sure if Eve would even lose her teeth, since she had pointed canines like Gajeel and he claimed that he never had baby teeth. "That's lovely," Levy praised. "It's pretty loose too. In a couple of days, you'll probably be ready to pull it."

Eve looked horrified. "Won't that hurt?"

"No, not really. It'll be quick and painless."

"That's what you said when I got shots, and they hurt," Eve pointed out. "Besides, won't I have a gap if you pull out my tooth?"

"Another one will grow in its place," Levy explained.

"Well, why can't I just keep this one?"

"Because it's not big enough or strong enough to last into adulthood. See, I had to pull out my baby teeth too and look at how pretty my smile is." Levy grinned for emphasis, showing of her straight white teeth.

Eve didn't look convinced, but she sullenly nodded and went to show Gajeel.

As the days passed, Levy noticed that the six-year-old was very careful to eat softer foods, and not bite into anything. Every night Levy insisted on seeing the tooth. Despite Eve's best efforts, it continued to grow less and less stationary.

Finally, Levy said, "I think it's ready to come out."

"No!" Eve cried, covering her mouth with her hands. "I don't want to! It's gonna hurt!"

"It's not going to hurt, I promise," said Levy. "And don't you want the Tooth Fairy to come?"

"Tooth Fairy?" Eve repeated.

"She's a magical fairy who comes to children who loose their baby teeth. All you have to do is put the tooth under your pillow and go to sleep, and she'll come in during the night and replace it with a jewel. Then she cleans the tooth so it's shiny and new and puts it in the mouth of another baby who's just starting to get their teeth."

"Ew," Eve said.

"Not _ew_," Levy objected. "The Tooth Fairy is very nice."

"Does she work at Fairy Tail?"

Levy laughed. "No, afraid not."

"Do you know her?"

"Not personally, but she pays you for your tooth so it must stand to reason that she's nice. Don't you want the Tooth Fairy to visit you tonight, so you can get money?"

"...I guess," Eve sighed. She reluctantly opened her mouth. "Ga eh o'er wiff."

"Hang on." Levy grabbed some paper towels and a glass of saltwater from the kitchen. "Alright, I'm going to pull your tooth and then you swish this around. Make sure you spit it out in the sink, don't drink it." She handed the glass to Eve and pinched the loose tooth in between her thumb and forefinger. "Ready?"

Eve nodded.

With a sharp twist, Levy disconnected the tooth from its remaining roots and took it out of Eve's mouth. The gap started gushing blood, much to Eve's distress. "Go in the bathroom and swish the water," Levy instructed. Eve did as she was told, wincing as the water infiltrated the tender absess in her gums.

Levy inspected the little tooth and smiled. Eve's first baby tooth!

Gajeel walked passed them and shot them a puzzled look. "Whatcha got there, shorty?" he inquired, inspecting the little white stub in the paper towel.

Eve spat out the water and grinned at him, her gum glistening crimson with blood. "Mommy pulled out my tooth!" To confirm this story, Levy held the paper towel up to Gajeel's nose.

Gajeel looked unpredictably horrorstruck. "Levy! Why would you do that? Oh, shit, we've gotta get her to the hospital!"

"What? Why? Mommy, what's wrong?"

"I don't know!" Levy shrieked, frantic. She'd never pulled out a tooth before; had she done something wrong?

"You don't_ know_? You just pulled out our kid's tooth!" Gajeel exclaimed.

"B-but it was loose!"

Eve started to wail. Levy and Gajeel turned to her, brows furrowed in concern. "It was a baby tooth, you're supposed to pull those out," Levy muttered, looking at the tooth in her hand.

"Baby tooth?" Gajeel said, tilting his head. "What's that?"

Then it occurred to Levy that Gajeel had never had baby teeth, therefore he'd never had to have teeth pulled. She told him about baby teeth and the Tooth Fairy as she comforted Eve, explaining that this was all just a misunderstanding, that she was going to be fine.

Gajeel still looked confused when Levy was finished. "So you're tellin' me that you guys grow new teeth after your old ones fall out, and that there's a magical fairy lady who breaks into houses, sneaks into kids' rooms, and pays them for their detached body parts?"

"Well, when you put it like that..."

Even Eve looked a bit perturbed. "I'm not sure I want the Tooth Fairy to come to our house anymore, Mom."

Nevertheless, when she laid down that night she slipped the tooth under her pillow.

At eleven o'clock, after Gajeel's snores permeated the room for more than half an hour, Levy untangled herself from his person and tiptoed out of the room, quietly retrieving a jewel from her bedside table. Then she sneaked down the hallway into Eve's room.

The girl was a sleeping mound in bed covered with blankets, her shock of unruly black hair splayed across the pillow in haphazard loops. Levy listened to her quiet breathing for a moment, assured that she was asleep, then kneeled down beside the bed. She could see Eve's eyelids fluttering. Levy wondered what she was dreaming as she stuck her hand under the pillow and carefully searched until her fingers closed around the tiny tooth. After gently extracting it, she replaced it with the jewel and stood up.

She took a step forward and the floorboard creaked.

Levy froze and turned to Eve. The girl did not stir. Relieved, Levy continued out of the room and into the hallway, closing Eve's door behind her. When she was safely out of the woods, she inspected the tooth and smiled, closing it in her fist.

The next morning, Eve was ecstatic.

"Look! Mommy, you were right! The Tooth Fairy came and she took my tooth and gave me a jewel for it, look!" She stuck the currency in Levy's face, glowing with wonder at the strange being who traded money for teeth.

"Wow," Levy said. "You must have had a really good tooth for her to give you that. You want to go get a treat later, or do you want to save it?"

Eve grinned. "Let's go to the candy store!"

"The candy store it is."

Gajeel came in the kitchen, bleary-eyed from sleep. Eve showed off her jewel to him, which he turned around and inspected in the light. "Huh. What d'you know? The creepy Tooth Fairy is real." He placed it back in her eager hands, shaking his head. "Freaky."

After Gajeel left for the guild, Levy and Eve spent the day at the candy store and later the library. Eve spent her jewel on a bag of jelly beans. Levy got some peanut brittle, and also bought them hot chocolate at one of those coffee shops usually found near bookstores and libraries.

When they got home, Gajeel was wincing as Pantherlily wound a bandage around his forearm. Levy gasped, taking in the various scrapes on his body and the purpling bruise on his face. "What did you do? What happened?"

"We took on a dark guild," Pantherlily explained with an annoyed frown. "Gajeel didn't let me do anything. He handled it all by himself, and got hurt because of it."

"Only some scratches." He held up something for Levy to see, and she blanched when she realized it was a tooth. "Oi, how much d'you think the Tooth Fairy'll give me for this?"


	12. Seven Years: Horrible Halloween Haunts

_**Author's Note**: Sorry for the delay, I've been pretty busy lately. And before anybody asks: **no, Bloody Murder is not a real movie**. If there is such a horror movie entitiled Bloody Murder (which there probably is; I don't watch scary movies 'cause I'm a big wuss) then it isn't the same one. This is Fiore, people._

* * *

><p><strong>Seven Years: Horrible Halloween Haunts<strong>

Gajeel loved Halloween.

Seriously, how could he not? It was a holiday dedicated completely to scaring the ever-loving shit out of people you didn't like. And Gajeel didn't like a lot of people. Plus, all of his favorite movies came on television around Halloween time. The best movie ever was coming on at ten o'clock: _Bloody Murder._

Strangely enough, Levy had a thing for horror flicks too. He supposed it made sense since she liked scary books, but she was so damn jumpy sometimes that he figured she was one of those girls who refused to watch scary movies, or screamed and jolted whenever any amount of gore came up on the screen. In actuality, she was usually just as engrossed in the movie as he was.

They left to go trick-or-treating with Eve at seven. She was dressed up as a zombie mermaid this year (Eve always came up with the weirdest Halloween costumes, never content with a plain princess or witch) and got many looks of admiration as she sashayed proudly down the street, her faux flippers flapping on the pavement.

Fairy Tail was having a huge party that started at eight, so naturally the three of them stopped by after hitting all the good houses. Alcohol flowed freely, but Levy and Gajeel had long since been comfortable with Eve in this kind of environment as long as it was the guild and not anywhere else. Makarov was dressed up as a goblin; Asuka and Eve entertained themselves by pulling on his pointed plastic ears. Mirajane was a radiant angel, and Lisanna sported a daring black devil costume; Elfman was a super hero, and Evergreen a heroine. Laxus was Frankenstein; Bixlow was a punk rocker from some screamo band or another; Bisca and Alzack were, of course, cowboy and cowgirl; Wendy was a fairy, Charle a flower; Cana was a very drunk hula dancer; Macao was the Headless Huntsman; Natsu and Happy ran around the guild dressed as ninjas; Lucy was an elegant princess, decked out in a frosty blue dress; Gray was cleverly disguised as a pirate; Juvia was also pirate, but when Gajeel inquired whether or not they'd coorilated costumes, she'd said no. Erza was a sexy maid, cheerfully stuffing her face with candy.

Levy was a cat this year, her little neko ears popping out from her mass of blue hair, whiskers drawn on her face, a tail swishing back and forth behind her as she walked. Jet and Droy were both dogs, which Gajeel found ironic. He hadn't dressed up as anything; Eve begged him to be a zombie mermaid (or rather, mer_person_) with her, but Levy eventually convinced her that Gajeel was scary enough on his own; he didn't need a costume.

After spending a merry evening bobbing for apples and watching their friends get drunk off their asses, the happy family marched back to their house at nine thirty exactly, so Levy and Gajeel would not miss their favorite movie. Eve was bouncing around, hyped up on candy and excitement. They let her stay up until ten, then banished her to her room when the movie started. Seven was a little too young to watch _Bloody Murder_, a movie that was renowned across the globe for sending a group of elderly people into cardiac arrest on opening day.

The couple settled down on the couch in anticipation, grinning eagerly. Gajeel noticed that Levy was slowly dismantling her costume as they waited. The ears were set neatly on the table, the tail draped across the arm of the couch, her little cat-paw shoes and gloves gathered into a pile in the corner. She accidentally smudged her whiskers with the back of her hand.

Levy thrust her hand into the popcorn bowl and munched on it as the last commercials flickered and died on the screen. And then the scariest movie in Earthland began to play.

So enamored were they with the movie that they didn't notice two wide brown eyes glistening in the darkened corner, stricken with fright throughout the whole two-hour production.

When Gajeel crawled into bed that night, it was well after twelve o'clock. Levy deftly stripped out of her leather cat outfit, grinning as she threw it in Gajeel's face, and replaced it with one of his black t-shirts. She climbed into bed and wiggled close to him, wrapping her tiny cold feet around his leg. He yelped. "Holy shit, shorty, did you stick your toes in ice or somethin'?"

"Well, maybe if you turned the heat up..." Levy trailed off, yawning. She nuzzled her head under his chin where it fit perfectly, and quietly drifted off to sleep. Gajeel listened to her soft breathing for a while, and just as he closed his eyes he saw a flutter beside him. There was a tiny figure standing over him. His thoughts immediately went to sociopath twin killers in _Bloody Murder_.

Then he realized it was Eve.

She was crying, sniffing as tears capsized and fell down her cheeks, clutching a raggedy Indigo the Elephant to her chest. "Daddy, I had a bad dream," she whispered, her bottom lip trembling pitifully. "Can I sleep with you tonight, pretty please?"

Gajeel blinked. Eve had never been one of those kids who wanted to sleep with her parents. She'd never been afraid of the dark, never minding solitude. He supposed that she probably _was _scared if she was asking him. "Yeah, hop on in."

Eve's shoulders slumped with relief as she climbed into bed, burrowing herself in the blanket and gluing herself to the side of Gajeel that wasn't occupied by Levy. Gajeel wrapped an arm around her and wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb. "What was your nightmare about, hm?"

"Well..." Eve looked reluctant to tell. "...I don't wanna talk about it."

Gajeel shrugged and was silent as Eve snuggled closer, curling into a little warm ball. After another long lapse in conversation she spoke again. "I dreamed about the boy and girl in that movie you and Mommy were watching. It was really scary."

The Iron Dragonslayer cursed under his breath, suspicions confirmed. "Why did you stay and watch that movie, Eve? We told you to go to bed for a reason, because we knew it would scare you."

Eve sniffed, her tears sliding down with renewed vigor. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again, I promise. Just don't kick me out. I'm really, really scared."

"I ain't goin' to," Gajeel said. "Not tonight, anyway. But you can't sleep with us every night, you know. You gotta be a big, brave girl like you've been. The only reason that movie was so scary was 'cause it was fake. There's nothin' really like that in real life."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Then how did they video tape it all?"

"Special effects. It's all generated by machines." Gajeel grinned at her, his white teeth flashing brightly in the dark room. "Besides, you're completely safe from anything long as I'm here. I ain't gonna let nothin' get to you, or Mom. That's my job."

"To protect us?" Eve said.

Gajeel shook his head. "More 'n that. To keep you guys safe."

Eve gave a small, watery smile and finally drifted off to sleep, clutching Indie and indeed feeling very safe there in her father's iron embrace.


	13. Eight Years: Suspenseful Sharpshooting

_**Author's Note:** A shout out to all those who review and favorite. You guys don't know how much you make my day. :)_

* * *

><p><strong>Eight Years: Suspenseful Sharpshooting<strong>

Levy finished braiding Eve's long black hair and tied it with a scarlet ribbon to match her outfit, which consisted of a sequined red dress, white tights, and black shoes. "There," Levy said. Eve shot up, practically bouncing up and down in excitement. Tonight was the Annual Magnolia Elementary School Talent Show, and she was going to be Asuka's assistant. Basically that entitled setting up targets for Asuka to shoot, but considering the fact that at eight years old she was the youngest participant (third grade was the earliest you could sign up, to save the parents from the endless parade of squeaky singers and clumsy tap-dancers, but most third-graders were too intimidated to attempt it).

"How do I look?" Eve asked, beaming. This year was the year that she shot up like a bean sprout; Eve was all elbows and knees and long, thin limbs. She had certainly inherited Gajeel's height, for she was already nearly at Levy's shoulder, but she retained a certain delicacy that said she would be slender in adulthood. Her hair was already coming out of the braid, but there was no helping that; Eve inherited wild hair from both of her parents. Her big brown eyes were bright and wide with excitement, and her reckless grin stretched from ear to ear, revealing pointed canines.

Levy smiled; people said that from the forehead to the nose Eve looked like her, but from the nose to her chin Eve was Gajeel. It was an odd combination, a strange medley of soft and sharp, of delicate and sturdy, of tame and wild, but it suited Eve's equally contradictory personality perfectly.

"Fantastic," Levy complimented. Eve twirled around and went to fetch Gajeel and Pantherlily, who were also going to be attending the talent show. Plus Lucy, Jet, and Droy. Some others from the guild wanted to come as well, but it was five tickets per family. Bisca and Alzack generously gave their extra three extra tickets to Natsu, Gray, and Erza. Happy and Pantherlily were being smuggled in.

Together the four of them left the house and walked two blocks to the school, which was jammed with a surprising amount of people. Gajeel, being the tallest of the group by far, spotted Team Natsu in the crowd and beat his way toward them.

Lucy's face lit up when she saw Eve. "Look at you! You're so adorable!"

"Thanks, Aunt Lucy," Eve said, looking pleased.

"I have a dress like that," said Erza.

"Me too," Natsu said. Everyone gave him a look. He blinked. "What? It was from a mission. 'Member, Lucy?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

They were laughing at Natsu's dumbfounded expression when Jet and Droy elbowed their way through the sea of people. "Hey, Eve, Asuka's waiting for you by the entrance. Alzack and Bisca are with her."

"I'll take her," Gajeel volunteered, picking Eve up and placing her on his shoulders as he once again braved the swelling crowd. "Save me a seat, will ya, shorty?"

"Sure thing."

As Gajeel and Eve disappeared, the group drifted into the auditorium and clamored around for seats. They managed to find a free spot in the middle and sat down, saving three seats for the missing parents.

The parents in question exited from back stage momentarily, looking around for the others. After much waving, shouting, and a contained, fiery explosion from Natsu, they managed to pick them out from the crowd and skirted their way over.

"Why're you sittin' all the way back here?" Gajeel inquired.

"It was the only free space with enough seats," Levy said.

Gajeel shook his head. "No, no, they gotta be able to see us. You're doin' this all wrong, shorty; follow me." Clueless and sharing questioning looks, the group migrated down to the front, which was overflowing with guests. Gajeel stationed himself in front of the very first row of people and bared down on them, crossing his arms rather menacingly. The unfortunate targets gawked at his formidable bulk with expressions akin to what Levy saw in illustrations of people beholding a mighty demon.

"Oi, my friends and I wanna sit here so we can see our kids okay. You mind moving?" He wasn't rude or too terribly malicious, but the group shrank under his gaze and swiftly departed. Smugly he sat, and the others followed suit.

The lights of the auditorium dimmed and the group sat back and watched the acts. There was a ventriloquist, a comedy duo, a group of hip-hop dancers, a tuba player, a magician, and several singers. Finally, after the fire juggler departed (and after they put out the flames consuming the curtains on stage) the principle announced Asuka Connell and Evelyn Redfox, sharpshooter and assistant.

The two girls came on stage, waving to the applauding audience. Asuka took the microphone and cleared her throat as Eve set up three targets behind her. "Um, h-hello everybody. For my first act, I'm going to get a bulls-eye on all three of those targets that my assistant has set up behind me."

With that she turned around and felt for the two guns in her holster while Eve moved out of the way. Levy frowned and whispered to Gajeel, "Wait, you don't think they let her bring actual guns to school, do you?"

"We just saw a fire juggler," Gajeel pointed out.

Levy jumped when Asuka fired the first shot. Yes, that was definitely a real gun.

Two shots later, Eve was showing the crowd the solitary targets. All three had a hole in the center. Next, Eve set up some kind of contraption in which the targets began to move at a rapid pace. "For my next demonstration, I'll be shooting these moving targets," Asuka said into the microphone.

All five stopped moving when she hit them.

Eve began to dig around in the bag. Levy turned pale when her daughter pulled out an apple and balanced it upon her head.

"And now," Asuka said dramatically, "for the grand finale, I will shoot this apple on top of my assistant's head!"

The crowd was silent as a cemetery as Eve carefully made her way across the stage, and Asuka to the other side. The older girl gripped the gun in both of her hands and took a deep breath to calm herself. Eve gave a sunny grin and gave her a thumbs up. Asuka shut one eye and took aim.

Levy couldn't watch.

She heard a bang and then screams from many in the crowd; even Gajeel jumped beside her, letting out a tiny noise of his own. Levy didn't dare uncover her eyes until a round of boisterous applause drowned out anything else. When she peaked out from the gaps in her fingers, she saw the two girls bowing hand in hand. The shattered bits of apple were scattered around the stage.

"Whoa," Alzack said behind her, "that even made me a little nervous. I didn't know they were doin' that, guys, I swear. Else I wouldn't've let 'em."

"S'okay," Gajeel said gruffly. Levy could only let out what sounded like a wheeze.

All the other acts after that were dull in comparison. If it had been a contest, Asuka and Eve would have been the clear winners. They'd stolen the show with their gutsy stunt, something that even the most accomplished marksmen didn't dare attempt.

The talent show finally came to a close, and everyone flooded out like a giant wave of bodies. "I can't believe they did that!" Lucy was ranting, her brown eyes wild. "Eve could've been killed!"

"Trust me, Asuka won't be doin' that again," Alzack promised.

"I thought it was pretty awesome," Natsu admitted.

"Only you would think that something that reckless was awesome," Gray remarked.

"What was that, droopy-eyes? Didn't quite hear you."

Erza interrupted them with a chilling glare, curtly reminding them that they were in an institutional environment surrounded by children.

They spotted Bisca's bright green hair outside, and then saw the girls running toward them. Eve hugged her mother's legs, absolutely glowing with pride. "What'd you think, Mom? Was the finale cool or what? We wanted it to be a surprise, so we didn't say anything."

"It was incredible," Levy said, embracing Eve fiercely. "But do me a favor, and don't ever do it again."


	14. Nine Years: Metal to the Pedal

_**Author's Note:** Because every self-respecting father is required to teach his kid how to ride a bike._

* * *

><p><strong>Nine Years: Metal to the Pedal<strong>

"Are you sure about this, Dad?"

"Of course! Only wimps need training wheels. You ain't a wimp, are ya?"

"No!"

Gajeel finished adjusting the seat to Eve's brand-new bicycle. It was a present for her ninth birthday. Levy and Gajeel had spent forever debating what bike to get her; Levy wanted the electric blue with white tires and both hand and petal brakes, while Gajeel favored the black, light-weight bike built for speed. Eventually they settled on this one, a cherry-red bike that was the very embodiment of childhood. It had a little basket and a bell and everything.

It also came with training wheels, which Levy insisted they use since Eve didn't know how to ride a bike without them. Gajeel scoffed at the idea (_training wheels_ sounded like a sorry excuse for a freakin' tricycle, if you asked him) and eventually convinced her to leave it up to Eve.

Then he had to convince Eve to ditch the training wheels, which was pretty easy in itself. She was always up for learning something new, trying different things, perfecting her skills. And if all else failed, she'd jump on the opportunity to prove that she was not a weakling.

Gajeel smiled to himself. _The apple doesn't fall far from the tree_, Levy was always saying.

"Alright. You ready to go?"

Eve nodded. "Yup! Let's do this!"

"Hop on." He watched her momentarily struggle to climb onto the bike, which was taller than she was used to. She balanced to one side, leaning on that leg while the toes on her other foot brushed the ground. "Okay, I'm gonna hold you upright. Just put your feet on the pedals and start pushing. You ain't gotta worry about fallin' yet."

"Dad, this isn't going to be one of those cliches where you're pushing me and suddenly you let me go and I'm riding along flawlessly while you're reminiscing about me growing up so fast, is it?"

"Hell no," Gajeel said.

Eve grinned and flicked her hair out of her eyes. She had it up in a ponytail, but that did little to reign in the wild locks. She put her feet up on the pedals and pushed, causing the wheels of the bike to roll forward. Gajeel followed her as she biked down the hill in the yard, gripping the handlebars nervously. "Turn to the left," he said as they approached the trash can. Eve did as she was told, her legs pumping. Soon Gajeel was running in order to keep up with her. "Alright!" he said, "I'm gonna let you go now!"

"Wait, I don't - " Eve screamed when Gajeel released the seat and she was on her own. She sped away for a few seconds before losing too much speed and swerving to one side, falling off of her bike with a clatter.

Gajeel made his way over to her, booming with laughter while she spared him a murderous glare. "Good thing you're wearin' your helmet," he chortled, rapping the plastic surface with his knuckles.

Eve knocked his hand aside irritably. "You said you weren't going to let me go!"

"Didn't," Gajeel disagreed. "I said I wasn't going to suddenly let you go and reminisce on you growing up while you rode away flawlessly. I gave you fair warning and I didn't have time to think about how fast you're growin' up; you crashed before I could."

Eve crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. "Shut up."

"Wanna try again?"

"Yeah." Eve got back up and brushed herself off, then got right back on the bike. Once Gajeel grabbed the seat again she took off, pedalling along. She crashed the second time he let her go, and again the third time. But she got farther and farther with each attempt, and when Gajeel started pushing her the fourth time he knew she wouldn't crash.

For some reason, that made him reluctant to release her.

"Okay, Dad, I think I got it this time!" Eve said, grinning and panting as she pumped her legs. Still, Gajeel held on. Eve grew impatient. "C'mon, Dad, you can let go!"

Gajeel took a deep breath and he did, watching her wheel away with a newfound speed. It was different from teaching her how to walk; this time she was drifting away, not toddling toward him.

_She really_ is _growing up fast._

Neatly Eve turned around and began pedalling back toward him. Gajeel felt his heavy mood lighten a bit, seeing her proud smile. She held out her hand and Gajeel high-fived her as she passed. Her hand was as small and delicate as Levy's. "I did it!" she shouted into the sky triumphantly. "Hahaha! I did it! I'm riding a bike!"

Suddenly she swerved out of control and crashed into some bushes, groaning as the twigs poked her. Gajeel tipped back his head and guffawed as she pulled herself out. Eve scowled. "What're you laughin' at, old man? I'd like to see you try it!"

Gajeel gave her a look. "Please, Eve, remember who you're talkin' to. I am Gajeel Redfox, Iron Dragonslayer. I've defeated countless dark guilds single-handedly - "

" - with Lily - "

" - so what makes you think that I can't ride a freakin' bike?" Gajeel plowed on, ignoring her input. Eve stood and made a grand gesture toward her birthday present, clearly a challenge. Gajeel smirked and sauntered over, inspecting the little bike before climbing on. Truthfully Gajeel had less experience than Eve did (he'd never ridden one before) but it didn't seem too terribly difficult. Before he took off, Eve unsnapped the helmet and placed it on his head, following his example and rapping the plastic with her knuckles.

"Safety first," she remarked.

Gajeel grumbled and cleared his throat, wrapping his hands around the handles. He placed on foot on the respective pedal and pushed before placing his other foot on the other pedal and pushing. The bike rolled forward, wobbled, and Gajeel cursed as it toppled over. Eve's merry laughter echoed in his ears as he untangled himself from the metal contraption and pouted, his ears going red with humiliation.

"Just you watch! I'll get it!" he said, and tried again with the same result.

"You want me to push you?"

"Hell no!"

Gajeel tried again and, lo and behold, third time seemed to be the charm. He circled the lawn around Eve smugly, looking very much like a clown on the too-small bicycle. "See? Haha! What'd I tell you?"

"I need a picture of this," Eve said, shaking her head.

"You're just jealous."

"Whatever."

Gajeel circled on for a few minutes, screeching to a stop beside her. "Your turn. Get on and try it, now that I've broken it in for you."

Eve rolled her eyes ("I saw that!" Gajeel snapped) and climbed back on the bike, taking off on it before Gajeel could even place the helmet on her head. He stared, dumbfounded, as she pedalled up and down the street as if she'd been doing it her whole life.

"Hey! What the hell?"

"Oh, did I forget to mention that I've been practicing on Asuka's bike?" Eve said, her voice to sugary-sweet to be innocent. "Must've slipped my mind. I guess I just wanted to see how long it would take you to try it."

Gajeel gaped at her. "Devious little twerp," he muttered.

Eve grinned, stopping beside him. "You're not mad at me, are you?"

"Nah, guess not. But you're still a devious little twerp."

"I can live with that."

They heard a deep rumble and suddenly a motorcycle came tearing down the street, a dark streak of rubber and chrome. Eve gawked after it, her brown eyes wide with amazement.

"Oh, can you teach me to ride one of those next?"

Gajeel snorted. "In your dreams."


	15. Ten Years: Sexy Santa's Christmas Cookie

_**Author's Note:** I needed a Christmas one! Sorry, just couldn't resist! :D_

* * *

><p><strong>Ten Years: Sexy Santa's Christmas Cookies<strong>

Levy sighed and watched as her breath condensed in the air, forming a cloud before rising up again. Gajeel, Pantherlily, and Eve ran through the snowy streets of Magnolia, pelting each other with snowballs the size of small dogs and soaking themselves to the bone. Levy shook her head as Eve managed to nail Pantherlily in the face, upsetting his balance and causing him to fall backward into the snow. His balance was probably already rather upset from all the eggnog he drank at Lucy's Christmas party, from which they were just leaving.

Levy frowned as she thought about it. She'd been going to get Eve when she'd heard the girl talking to Asuka. "I don't believe in Santa anymore," she'd said. Hearing her say that made Levy kind of sad, even though most people figured out the secret of Santa Claus by Eve's age. Still...Levy didn't like it. Next year Eve could scoff at the legend, but this year Levy wanted to make it special.

Gajeel didn't seem nearly as perturbed. "So what if she doesn't believe? She's ten, Levy, and she's pretty freakin' smart. I'm surprised she didn't figure it out before now."

That did little to help Levy. She burrowed her nose, cherry-red from the cold, in her scarf. Why couldn't Eve just believe in Santa forever? Why did she have to grow up at all?

Levy yelped as a frigid wet _something _slithered down her back. She jumped around to see Gajeel grinning down at her, laughing with Eve. Levy narrowed her eyes and bent down, scooping up snow. "You better run," she warned.

Eve squealed and did as Levy suggested, but Gajeel just crossed his arms and smirked. "What, you gonna throw the snow at me, shorty? Come on, hit me. I dare - "

He was cut off by slush in the face. Deliberately he wiped it off with his hand while Levy pointed and chuckled. "Oh," he hissed, "it's on."

Levy blanched and turned on her heel to run along with Eve, but Gajeel was faster. He grabbed the collar of her shirt and lifted her right off the ground so her feet were waving uselessly in the air. "Wait! Argh, Gajeel! What are you doing?"

Gajeel opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted again when someone threw a snowball at the back of his head. "Let Mom go!" Eve declared bravely, grinning as she tossed a snowball back and forth in her hand.

"You want some of this?" Gajeel challenged.

"Bring it!"

Gajeel roared and carried Levy piggy-back style (much to her bafflement), then proceeded to chase Eve all the way home, Pantherlily flying above them.

Later, Eve settled down and they finally put her to bed after lighting the Christmas tree and setting out homemade cookies and milk for Santa Claus. "Right," Eve said with a wink. "Santa Claus."

"Why do you say it like that?" Levy inquired, offended.

"Mom," Eve said, giving her mother a look, "I know Santa's not real."

"Of course he's real! Who do you think brings you all those gifts?"

Eve just rolled her eyes in exasperation and laid down for bed. Levy cracked the door and solemnly walked across the hall to the room she shared with Gajeel. "What's up with you?" he asked, propping himself up on an elbow.

Levy flopped down on the bed. "Eve doesn't believe in Santa. I know she's ten and everything but...I don't know. It just makes me sad. She's growing up and - "

"Levy," Gajeel interrupted with a look akin to his daughter's, "she's ten. It's not like she leaving us tomorrow."

"I know, but..." Levy sighed. "It's fine. It's not a big deal. You said you were going to handle the presents this year?"

"Yeah, but I'm not eatin' those sugary-ass cookies you guys made."

"Alright then. I'm going to sleep." Levy rolled over and closed her eyes, falling into a light doze.

She woke up when she heard a crash from the living room and a muffled curse. The clock read 1:07am. Levy rolled her eyes and swung her legs off of the bed, wiggling her toes on the floor. _Gajeel probably needs help_.

But when she walked outside, it was not Gajeel she saw. It was a big man with a fat belly in bright red suit with white fur trim and black leather accessories. He had a fluffy white beard and hair to match, as well as a cap that was the same design as his suit. Levy couldn't believe her eyes. She blinked, rubbed them, then blinked again. Finally she whispered, "Santa Claus?"

The person in question jumped, but when Levy saw his face she knew it was not Old St. Nick. Her jaw dropped. It was Gajeel dressed in a Santa suit.

He frantically made hushing motions with his hands. "Don't laugh, dammit! You're gonna wake her up too early!"

"Gajeel - _Santa _- what are you doing?"

"I'm puttin' gifts under the tree, and I'm gonna purposely walk by Eve's room and let her see me so she'll think Santa's real," Gajeel explained.

Levy cocked her head. "Why would you do that? I thought you said she was old enough now to know?"

"Well," Gajeel began gruffly, looking down at his feet, "you were all upset about it and stuff, so I figured...well, one more year ain't gonna hurt, is it?"

Levy smiled as Gajeel's neck turned as red as the suit. She made her way over and wrapped her arms around his puffy waist, settling her head on his familiar muscular chest. "Thank you, Gajeel. This means a lot."

"Hey, Santa gets a Christmas gift too, right?" Gajeel said, raising his hand in the air and revealing a bit of mistletoe pinched between his fingers. Levy rolled her eyes and stood on tiptoe to kiss him, stretching farther than usual in order to bypass the obstacle that was his artificial belly. She wrinkled her nose as the beard tickled her face.

"Ugh. Gajeel, don't ever grow a beard."

"Why not? I think it's kind of sexy."

"Just about as sexy as your belly here." Levy groped the fluffy mass in her hands, raising an eyebrow. "What is this made of, anyway?"

Gajeel unbuttoned the suit and pulled out the corner of a pillow. Levy giggled. "You know, without the beard and the belly I think that costume might actually be pretty hot."

It was Gajeel's turn to raise a nonexistent eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah. You could be Sexy Santa at Lucy's party next year instead of Gray."

Gajeel hung his head, shaking it back and forth as he buttoned his suit back up. "Iceboy has no shame, no shame at all."

"I know Juvia loved it."

"Juvia's a freak." Suddenly Gajeel's ears pricked up. His eyes widened as he swore under his breath and shoved Levy behind him, shielding her from sight. Levy dared to peak over his shoulder just enough to see the top of Eve's head. She swiftly hid behind Gajeel once more.

"Santa?" Eve yawned.

Gajeel cleared his throat nervously, grasping for something to say. "Uhum...Ho ho ho, Eve! Merry Christmas...!" Levy slapped her forehead at Gajeel's pitiful Santa impersonation. It was even worse than Gray's.

"Hurry up and get her back to bed!" she hissed into his ear.

"Um, n-now be a good girl and go back to sleep," Gajeel said in a jolly(ish) voice. "Hurry up, or else I won't be able to come next year, ho ho ho..."

"Alright, Santa," Eve murmured. Levy thanked the heavens that the girl was as tired as she was, or else there was no doubt that she would have recognized Gajeel in a heartbeat. "Make sure...you give Asuka Connell a lot of extra candy, okay? She...she said you were real, even though...I didn't think so. Sorry, Santa."

"That's okay, Eve. Go back to bed now," Gajeel said gently. Levy listened carefully as Eve's footsteps receded, then she poked her head out from behind Gajeel.

"Wow. That was close."

Gajeel sighed. "Don't you feel bad? Lyin' to her?"

"Not in this case," Levy said. "I'd feel worse if I deprived her of the spirit of Christmas. Besides, she probably shouldn't go around telling other kids Santa doesn't exist."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Gajeel scratched his beard. "I need to get out of this freakin' costume before it eats me or somethin'."

"Need any help, Santa?"

* * *

><p><strong>THE NEXT MORNING...<strong>

Eve was bouncing off the walls. She came into Levy's and Gajeel's room and shook them awake, rambling on and on about how Santa Claus had really come and how she saw him and how he was awesome and amazing and really real! Her parents sluggishly got out of bed, unaffected by her enthusiasm, and prepared coffee and pancakes for breakfast. Eve sat down to eat before opening gifts, squirming in her seat and glancing back at the pile of parcels under the tree every few seconds or so.

"You were right, Mom," she said as she stuffed her mouth with syrupy pancakes. "About Santa Claus. I saw him last night, delivering presents."

"Did you?"

"Mhm. He was really nice, even though he laughed weird. He told me to go back to bed so that I could stay on the nice list and he could come next year."

"Staying on the nice list is probably a good idea."

Eve grinned, looking over her shoulder at the tree for the fiftieth time. "He even drank the milk and ate the cookies and everything!"

Gajeel frowned and leaned over to Levy when Eve wasn't paying attention. "Oi, did you eat the cookies?"

"No," Levy said, puzzled. "Did you?"

"Nuh-uh."

Pantherlily suddenly burst in, looking wild-eyed. "Guys, guys! I've got big news! Last night, I saw Santa Claus taking off on from the roof!"

Eve gasped. "Really? No way!"

"Yes, I did! He had reindeer and everything, and one of their noses were glowing - "

" - Rudolf!"

"Yeah! And he had a big sack of toys and he was huge! I swear I saw him from my window! It was incredible!" Pantherlily sat, engaged, as Eve told him of her own encounter with Santa Claus. When her story was over and she was skipping around the gifts under the tree, sorting them according to the name on the labels, Levy went over to the Exceed.

"Lily, did you come in here and eat the cookies last night?"

The cat blinked at her, genuinely confused. "What cookies?"


	16. Eleven Years: Battles, Inside and Out

_**Author's Note:** I'm glad everyone enjoyed the last chapter so much! This one's a little more serious, but in a good way I suppose. Eve's slowly but surely becoming her own person._

* * *

><p><strong>Eleven Years: Battles, Inside and Out<strong>

While growing up under the supervision of a blunette bibliophile and a tsundere of an Iron Dragonslayer did have its drawbacks, there one absolute benefit from it: Evelyn Redfox-McGarden was one of those remarkable people who truly did not care what others thought about her. She said what needed to be said, did what she thought was right, and paid no heed to petty gossip or rumors. Occasionally she did cross certain lines and make mistakes, but she always redeemed herself and went on with her life, leaving the past behind her where it belonged. At the tender age of eleven, Eve was probably one of the most self-assured people in Fiore.

So when people told her that her pointy teeth were scary, or that Fairy Tail was a rotten guild and that Twilight Ogre was better, or that she was a nerd because she enjoyed reading, she had no trouble coming up with a retort that left the offender speechless or simply ignoring them altogether. For the most part, Eve was fairly popular at Magnolia Junior High. People liked her the-path-less-traveled-by attitude, and those who did not mostly left her alone.

Except for the kids from Twilight Ogre.

Asuka and Eve were the only two "fairies" at Magnolia Junior High, very much outnumbered compared to the seven "ogres." Five of those seven were in Eve's grade, while Asuka only had to deal with one (the last was a seventh-grader).

This rivalry was still at the girls' advantage, as the brutish children of Twilight Ogre were as stupid as their mascot suggested. Verbal barbs were Eve's specialty, and ever since Asuka grew into her magic and she was able to exquip guns like her parents, the ogres didn't bother them much.

However, their taunting had become increasingly harsh and threatening ever since Twilight Ogre had to borrow money from Fairy Tail to keep the Council from disbanding them due to lack of income. Eve didn't bother to conceal this fact from her parents. Levy was livid, but Gajeel had faith that his daughter would be able to handle herself.

And for the most part, she did. But even the offspring of the Iron Dragonslayer could not prevail in an ambush by six boys were were twice her size and three of which had magic.

Gajeel (fortunately) was the only one home when Asuka pounded on the door, supporting a bruised, bloody Eve. "What the fuck?" Gajeel roared when he saw them, causing Asuka to flinch.

"Don't yell, Dad," Eve said, wincing. "Move out of the way so I can get inside, will you?"

"What the hell happened?"

"Twilight Ogre happened," Eve said vaguely, letting Asuka deposit her on the couch while Gajeel went to get bandages from the kitchen. "They attacked me on my way home. Asuka showed up and scared them away with her pistols."

"Yellow-bellied cowards," Asuka hissed, taking a wet rag from Gajeel and dabbing blood off of Eve's face with it. "There were five of 'em, and they all went runnin' soon as they saw me makin' my way over."

Eve smirked. "There were six of them at first. I scared one away."

Gajeel said nothing, silently trembling with rage. _Bastards!_ he shouted in his mind as he took stock of Eve's wounds. She had a fat lip, a black eye, a cut on her forehead, bruises and tiny cuts all on her arms and legs ("One had Paper Magic," she explained), as well as deep purpling bruises on her torso from where they kicked her.

Eve noticed him looking at her, and gave a small grin that turned into a grimace as Asuka bandaged her arm. "S'not as bad as it looks, Dad. Promise."

Gajeel didn't care what she said. He also noticed two small tracks running down her face from her eyes to her chin. Those bastards had made her cry, and they were going to pay dearly for it.

Asuka left when Eve was cleaned up. Levy got home from the guild and nearly fainted when she saw Eve sleeping the day away on the couch. Gajeel explained what happened in short, curt sentences, already planning the demise of the six ogres.

"What do we do now?" Levy whispered quietly, stroking Eve's shoulder-length black hair. Though it was Gajeel's color, Eve had Levy's wild waves, though she didn't wear hers in a bandanna like her mother.

"Beat the crap outta them, obviously!" Gajeel snarled.

"Gajeel, you can't beat up a bunch of kids," Levy sighed.

"They didn't have a problem with it!"

"Look, if you beat them up not only will we have the school on our case, it might also start a guild war with Twilight Ogre." Levy pondered it for a moment. "I think...you should teach Eve how to fight. You know; _really _fight. I don't like the idea too much, but if we don't teach her to protect herself then this might happen again."

Gajeel grumbled, bitter with the idea of not being able to extract revenge himself. "What if I walk with her? Then they wouldn't dare touch her again."

"No," Levy said, shaking her head. "You can't solve this problem for her. You won't be there to walk her through life. I'll alert the school, but I think this is something that Eve needs to handle on her own."

They didn't make Eve go to school the next day. The day after that her wounds were fine, and her parental unit insisted that she go. It quickly became apparent, however, that their fearless, courageous Eve was frightened.

"I don't want to go," she objected. "I still hurt all over the place! Please, let me stay home."

"You're healing fine. We can't let you miss too much school or else you'll get behind," Levy rebuffed. "I called the school and those boys - "

" - can't be punished, because the fight didn't happen on school grounds," Eve finished for her.

"Right...but they'll be watching - "

" - while I'm at school," Eve interrupted again. "They can't control what happens outside, and even those ogres aren't stupid enough to threaten me at school now!"

"Asuka will walk with you, like always."

"Can't Daddy take me?"

Eve hadn't called Gajeel by that childish endearment since she was eight. The man in question narrowed his eyes and loomed over her in a berating manner, crossing his arms. "Evelyn Redfox," he said in a stern tone, "You don't need a bodyguard, and I ain't gonna be one for you."

"If I don't need a bodyguard, then why's Asuka coming with me?"

"Asuka always walks with you," Gajeel pointed out. "It was just coincidence that she was held up the other day. Look, kiddo, you don't need me to protect you. I'm gonna teach you some fighting moves after school, and you'll be able to defend yourself." He ruffled her hair in the same gentle manner he did Levy's, and although she pouted all the while, she still went to school.

When Eve came home that day reporting nothing but a few snide remarks and idle threats, she and Gajeel began immediately on her training. Pantherlily joined as well, reverting to his original muscular self for short periods of time.

They trained for several days, each afternoon turning out even more promising than the last. Eve progressed quickly through Gajeel's drills, demonstrations, and maneuvers, although her body was still sore from her first beating and she returned to bed with new bruises. Gajeel and Pantherlily did not go easy on her, and when Asuka joined in on the sessions they did not offer her that luxury either.

However, for every bruise Eve acquired she also landed a hit. After some time, Gajeel woke up with violet marks of his own. A small flower of fatherly pride blossomed in his heart as he took stock of his injuries. He always knew there was the flame of a warrior in her core. Eve would make a fine mage one day.

Eve seemed to regain confidence in herself as she breezed through the training. If Gajeel was any judge, she even seemed to enjoy the thrill of battle a little bit. Every once in a while he caught the white flash of a wide grin or the cocky bark of a laugh. But never did he see that spark of bloodlust in her chocolate-brown eyes. He knew that Eve did not possess the feral instinct that drove his desire to inflict pain on others, to rise victorious from the carnage of a battlefield; nor did she have the fierce competitive pride that the Salamander or Iceboy nurtured. She simply relished the physical exertion of fighting and the satisfaction of being able to protect herself from harm. Which, Gajeel thought, was a good thing; a _right _thing. Because Eve had Levy's eyes, and seeing such a brutal edge in those soft brown orbs would be much too strange.

After a few weeks, Gajeel had taught her every maneuver he thought she was capable of mastering and then some. He practiced with her nearly every afternoon, and sometimes she beat him, even if he used his magic.

One day Eve came home with a black eye and three long scratches on her arm, but she grinned from ear to ear and immediately embraced her father when she walked in. Gajeel wrinkled his nose; she was hot and sweaty. "I did it!" she cheered. "They tried to get me again, but I ran 'em off just like you taught me! Thank you so much, Dad, you don't know how good this feels!"

Gajeel smiled back at her proudly and listened as she explained the details of the fight, her voice becoming louder and louder with eagerness. But some part of him was rather sad, a part that was remote and hidden away from the surface, a part of him he didn't even know existed. That piece of him slowly withered away as he watched her mimic the movements of the brawl. It shriveled up and died right there in the kitchen. Because while Eve's eyes didn't shine red with bloodlust, they had the violent flames of a warrior fresh from battle. When she looked at him, he could not find Levy in there.

But then the sorrow was nudged away by something else. It was a kind of slow realization, like the rising of the morning sun. He was able to laugh with her and congratulate her again because, after all these years, he'd finally come to the realization that he was not looking into Levy's eyes anymore. They belonged to Eve. They had always belonged to Eve.

* * *

><p>After that day, the children of Twilight Ogre never again bothered the offspring of their rivals. They never sought out a fight with Eve again, and Gajeel was pleased to know that Eve never stirred up trouble with them either. In fact, she never did fight again in junior high.<p>

But whenever she passed one of them in the hallway, she could never help sparing them a chilling smile to remind them just whose daughter they were dealing with. It gave her a sick satisfaction to watch the shudders run down their spines.

Of course, she kept that little fact to herself.


	17. Twelve Years: The Beach Episode

_**Author's Note:** Because every self-respecting OC story as to come included with a beach episode. And for those of you who are wondering, the questions concerning Eve's magic will be answered in the next chapter._

_Oh, and for the purposes of this chapter, Levy has never been to the beach._

* * *

><p><strong>Twelve Years: The Beach Episode<strong>

Lucy slapped her hands down on the table, her jaw dropping as she gaped at her little blunette friend. "You've _never_ been to the beach?"

Levy shook her head. "No, never. I don't think Gajeel has either."

"So that means..." Lucy trailed off, calculating something in her head. Then she shot Levy an accusatory glare. "That means that Eve's never been to the beach!"

"No, I guess she hasn't."

"How could you do that to your own daughter?" Lucy cried. "The beach is awesome! You can surf and build sandcastles and tan and walk the beach...you could do anything! And Eve would look so cute in a swimsuit!" She wore a look of determination as she gave her friend a solemn nod. "That settles it. You are coming to the beach with us."

"I don't know, Lu-chan..." Levy said uncomfortably. "I don't know how to swim very well, and Gajeel sinks like a stone at the swimming pool..."

"Fine, you guys can stay home. I'll just take Eve with us." To prove her point, Lucy plucked the bewildered twelve-year-old in question out of the crowd in the guild. It was the middle of July, so she was free to do as she pleased until school started again.

Levy pondered the idea of letting her daughter go to the beach with a temperamental (and she thought that in the most endearing way possible) blonde Celestial Mage, a destructive Dragonslayer, an ice exhibitionist with a habit of stripping, a flying, talking blue cat, and a fierce armored redhead with a passion for strawberry cake.

Her mind was made up. "I'm going."

"Great! Meet us at the guild tomorrow morning!"

As Lucy skipped away to happily report the news to her teammates, a puzzled Eve looked at her mother and asked, "I'm sorry, where are we going?"

* * *

><p>Lucy took Eve swimsuit shopping while Levy tried to convince Gajeel to go with them to the beach. She didn't have to worry about them buying anything too revealing; Eve had maintained her esteemed sense of style over the years, modeling it both after her mother's simplistic delicacy and her father's dark palette.<p>

By the time she came home with a deep violet one-piece and Lucy with a shiny gold bikini for herself and an orange ruffled bikini (though it was a much smaller size) for Levy, Gajeel was still refusing to travel with them.

"It's too sunny, too sandy, and too wet," Gajeel listed off. "There's nothin' to do there either, since I can't exactly go surfing and like hell I'm gonna build a sandcastle. Besides, I already have to deal with the Salamander and Bunny Girl on a regular basis here in Magnolia. I don't wanna deal with them on vacation too."

"But Gajeel - "

Eve interrupted her mother. "I got this," she whispered off-handedly, depositing the shopping bag in the blunette's hands and striding toward her father. She blinked up at him pitifully, summoning forth the big brown puppy eyes she'd inherited from Levy. "Daddy, why don't you want to come with us? It's going to be fun, and I've never been to the beach before. It would mean so much to me if I got to spend this special time with all of the people in my family. You could bring Lily along too, I'm sure he'd agree if you asked him."

"Levy's been tryin' that on me all day," Gajeel said, turning away stubbornly. "Ain't gonna work this time. I ain't goin'."

In an instant, Eve went from sweet little girl to frustrated challenger. She smirked, revealing pointed canines. "Fine, then how about this: if I defeat you in thumb wrestling, then you have to come with us. If you defeat me, then you don't."

Gajeel looked at her tiny thumbs. "What if I break - ?"

"What was that? Is Pops suddenly a...chicken?" Eve's eyes widened in mocking disbelief, and behind her Levy and Lucy snickered.

"Like hell," Gajeel scowled. "You gotta deal. Gimme you're hand, kid."

Eve complied, wrapping her fingers around Gajeel's in the customary thumb-war fashion. "One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war," she said, squinting as their thumbs exchanged tentative jabs. Gajeel gulped with each thrust, obviously afraid he'd somehow injure his daughter's fragile hand. Meanwhile, Eve was merciless. With surprising strength for one so small, she trapped her father's large thumb under her own and managed to pin it for three seconds.

"Ha! I win! You have to come!" she cheered.

Gajeel sputtered, bewildered at his defeat. "What the hell?"

"Asuka and I play a lot," Eve explained. "We don't like Rock, Paper, Scissors."

"It's not a total loss, Gajeel," Lucy said cheerfully, pulling Levy's rather skimpy bikini from the shopping bag. "Don't you want to see Levy-chan in this?"

Gajeel's ears and neck turned tomato red. Lucy laughed with mirth as Levy's face, too, turned an impressive shade of scarlet, and wiggled the swimsuit in a scandalous manner. "You should probably come, anyway, just to make sure that no hot surfers steal Levy-chan away from you," she teased. She looked back at Eve and winked mischievously. The girl just sighed and shook her head at her parents' pointless embarrassment.

At the crack of dawn the next morning, Levy roused a zombie-like Eve while Gajeel dragged Pantherlily along by the tail ("I'm _not _going alone," he hissed, although the drowsy Exceed was still confused as to why his friend was blushing as he said this). They met Team Natsu at the guild and piled into a jumbo-sized carriage, beginning their three-hour journey to Hargeon Town and, ultimately, the beach.

Levy and Eve both slept most of the way, each claiming one of Gajeel's shoulders. Erza knocked Natsu out to stop his irritating groaning, then she proceeded to stare out the window as the sky lightened, absently stroking his head on her lap like a diabolical mastermind caressing her favorite fluffy cat. Pantherlily and Happy snoozed back-to-back. Lucy gently dozed with her cheek squashed against the window. Gray sat serenely on the floor, as all the other seats were occupied, leaning his head back against the wall with his eyes closed.

As the group came closer to the beach, they slowly began to wake, opening the windows of the carriage and letting in the ocean breeze. Eve poked at Natsu experimentally, recoiling when his face turned green and he slapped his hand over his mouth to stop the surge of regurgitation.

"Sorry, Natsu-nii," she apologized, grimacing as Erza once again silenced his complaints.

Eventually the carriage screeched to a stop. "We're here!" Natsu cheered, popping immediately out of his stupor. He scrambled out of his seat and ran over Gray in his haste to get out of the carriage. The two of them tumbled out and onto the sand. Natsu stood and raised his arms in the air triumphantly. "Haha, we made it!"

"IDIOT!" Gray roared, scurrying off the ground and pointing to the red footprint on his face. "You stepped on my face!"

"Your face was in the way!" Natsu said. "Anyway, I think it's an improvement!"

"Flame-brain!"

"Droopy-eyes!"

"Enough," Erza snapped, bashing their heads together. "This is going to be a relaxing vacation, right?"

"_Aye_."

Eve chortled and shuddered at the same time. "Wow, Erza-nee's scary."

"Aye," the others said simultaneously.

The group gathered their things from the carriage and marched through sandy dunes, wincing as the bottoms of their feet were exposed to the harsh white sand. Levy and Eve came to a halt when the ocean stretched before them, majestic and beautiful. Even Gajeel seemed a bit impressed.

"So," Lucy said with a grin, sneaking up behind them, "what do you think?"

"I'm glad we came," Levy admitted.

"Guess it's not all bad," Gajeel added gruffly.

"LET'S GO!" Eve and Natsu cheered at the same time, dropping all of their belongings and rushing into the waves, stripping into their swimsuits as they went. The others in the group shook their heads and deposited the beachwear in a more appropriate place. Gajeel and Gray put up giant umbrellas and the women set up their chairs in which to tan. Erza exquipped into a black bikini with gold accents and joined the others in the water, as did Levy, Happy, and Gray. Lucy blinked at Pantherlily and Gajeel stretched out under the shade of the umbrellas.

"You're not coming in?" she asked, gesturing to the roaring waves. "I heard that the water's supposed to be really nice this time of year."

"Buzz off, Blondie," Gajeel said, sending the ocean daggers.

"I'd rather not," Pantherlily conceeded, shifting his positon. The crashing of the waves sounded very much like thunder.

Lucy shrugged. "Suit yourselves." She joined the others in the water, attacked and dunked by Natsu within seconds of entering the surf.

Eve splashed in the shallow water beside her mother, enjoying the smooth ocean breeze and the cool water and sand between her toes. She looked back at Gajeel and Pantherlily, who were two dark blotches on an otherwise colorful strip of beach. "D'you think we should've dragged them along?" she asked.

"They're fine," Levy assured. She glanced wearily back at Team Natsu, who were all rambunctiously brawling in the deeper water. "I'm sure that someone will pull them into all this chaos. Eventually."

Eve frowned. "Is it just me, or did the water just get colder?"

From behind them, Lucy shrieked and Gray guffawed. There was a roar and a bit of firelight, and then Natsu's laugh replaced Gray's and the water became temperate again. Hesitantly Levy turned and saw a shivering Lucy holding up the burnt remains of her swimsuit top, while Natsu and Gray were hastily swimming away. Enraged, Lucy grabbed her key from who-knows-where and shouted, "Open, Gate of the Water Bearer! Aquarius!"

"Swim away!" Erza cried, ushering Levy and Eve toward the shore. But it was too late. The Celestial Spirit had already begin messing with the tides, and everyone within the vicinity was swept up in a giant wave.

From the shore, Gajeel watched as Levy, Eve, Erza, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and finally Happy landed on the sand like an array of soggy whales. He shook his head and folded his arms under his head, closing his eyes and listening to the sounds of the beach.

Beside him, Pantherlily acquired his second phobia.

* * *

><p>After they all ate a lunch of sandwiches and chips (and laughed whilst Lucy fled the seagulls who wanted her food) Eve decided that she wanted to make a sand castle.<p>

"I'll help you," Levy said.

"I bet I can make a better sand castle than Gray!" Natsu bellowed, grinning mischievously.

"You're on, Pinkie!"

"I'll judge!" Lucy said.

"I will be a judge as well," Erza volunteered.

"Daddy, you and Lily should build one too!" Eve called, waving her father over.

"Nope," Gajeel said, crossing his arms over his chest in a stubborn manner. "I said I ain't buildin' no sand castle, and I meant it."

"Don't feel bad, Eve," Levy said, loud enough for Gajeel to hear, "Daddy's just afraid that we'll build a better one than him."

Eve giggled as Gajeel's ears flicked and his eyes narrowed. "What was that, shorty? You callin' me a coward?"

"I never said such a thing," Levy denied, patting the sand into a bucket firmly before tipping it upside down and producing a perfect tier of the sand castle. "Eve, go get some seashells, will you?"

"I'll show you, shorty!" Gajeel roared, knocking the umbrella over in his haste to join the competition. "Just you watch! I'm gonna build the best damn sand castle you ever saw!"

"Nice," Eve praised, giving her mother a sly high-five.

"It comes with years of experience," Levy said smugly.

And so, the three teams: Natsu and Happy, Levy and Eve, and Gajeel and Gray (who were partnered up to keep it fair since Pantherlily opted out to be a judge) went to work on their respective sand castles while the three judges, Lucy, Erza, and Pantherlily, all watched or, in Lucy's case, read a book from the side lines.

It quickly became apparent that the teams weren't amateurs. Natsu used his fire to make the sand smooth and glassy, while Happy flew up to the very tip top to decorate it intricately with shells and other such things.

Gray and Gajeel had a very different approach. Their sand castle was huge, supported by Gajeel's iron beams, and equally extravagant. Gray used his ice to make the windows appear to be glass and to make small lanterns that glowed.

Levy and Eve did theirs the old-fashioned way, with buckets of water and sand, but Levy did occasionally use some of her solid-script for extra decoration. Levy wanted Eve to have the most honest sand castle building experience she could, but she hated the idea of losing to Gajeel. Every time she looked over, his sand castle seemed more and more exceptional while hers was lacking.

"Start builidng a moat," Levy instructed Eve, handing her a spade. "Make it as even as possible."

Eve nodded and got to work on digging, being careful not to get sand on the castle. Levy once more glanced back at Gajeel's sand castle and frowned, thinking of a way to distract him.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lucy wave, point to Gajeel, then to her impressive bust, and wiggle her eyebrows. Levy looked down at her own slender figure and understood what Lucy was saying: use her sex appeal.

"It's so hot," she complained dramatically, loud enough for Gajeel to hear.

"It _is _the beach, Mom," Eve replied with a hint of sarcasm. "You're wearing a shirt over your swimsuit. Why don't you take it off?"

"Good idea," Levy said cheerfully. She slid her fingers under the hem of her t-shirt and pulled it over her head, shaking out her mane of blue hair. When Gajeel was caught staring, he flushed and turned away. Levy smiled. She'd had her doubts, but perhaps this would work after all.

Nonchalantly she tossed the shirt in his direction and turned around, pretending to look for the spade that was right in front of her. "Ah, there it is!" she said, bending down to retrieve it.

From behind her she heard Gray snap, "Oi! Gajeel, focus!"

Levy smiled to herself as she helped Eve with the moat, evening it out and constructing a small drawbridge. She used her magic to summon some pearls and they decorated the sand castle with the delicate jewels, much to Eve's delight.

Again, Levy turned around to curiously peak at her competition. Natsu's was turning out sparkly enough, but it was very lopsided and haphazard. He had no vision whatsoever.

Gajeel's, however, was coming along nicely. It was nearly the size of a tree house, and decorated with actual bricks of sand as well as gargoyles on every corner. The windows glistened in the sunlight, and the muscles across Gajeel's broad back were rippling as he reached up to perfect one gnarled face, his own expression a mask of intense concentration...

"Mom, what're you staring at?"

"Oh, um, n-nothing!" Levy went back to placing shells on the roof of the castle, her cheeks a bright shade of crimson.

"Levy, do you need some sunscreen? You look like you're sunburned," Erza noted with concern, waving the bottle in her face.

"I'm fine, d-don't worry about me!" Levy promised shrilly. After she calmed down she noticed that Eve was having some trouble on the other side of the miniature castle, so she braced herself on the side of the moat and arched her back to assist the girl, biting her lip as the sand ground against her knees uncomfortably.

There was a large thump from Gray's and Gajeel's side as a certain someone fell off his makeshift ladder.

"Gajeel!" Levy heard Gray hiss. "Stop gawking and get a move on! We've only got a few minutes left! I'm gonna win this, dammit!"

The judges, with the exception of a confused-looking Erza, where all hooting with laughter.

After a few more minutes of intense last-minute adjustments, Erza finally stood up and called time. The teams meandered back over to the umbrella. Gajeel glared at Levy suspiciously. "Freakin' cheater," he accused.

"Whatever are you talking about?" Levy asked with false innocence.

"I think you know," he growled.

Eve gasped and pointed at the ocean. "Look!"

A huge wave was heading straight for them, a wave so big that it had to be unnatural. Squinting, they noticed a woman emerging from the wave with a joyous expression.

"JUVIA! NO!" Gray shouted, waving his arms frantically. "NO! STAY BACK! JUVIA! YOU'RE GOING TO RUIN THE SAND CASTLES!"

The other beach-goers gaped as the wave crashed onto the shore with a tremendous force, completely demolishing the three incredible sand castles that the group had been working on for a good part of the afternoon. Out of the wave came a woman dressed in a navy blue swimsuit, looking absolutely delighted and oblivious to the glares she was receiving from the other mages.

"Oh, Gray-sama! Juvia has been looking for you all day! She even tried to find Gajeel-kun but he and Levy-chan and Eve-chan were gone too! Juvia became concerned until Master told her that you went to the beach without her. Why didn't you tell Juvia?"

The others stood, agog, and sniffed with heartbroken expressions at the lumps that had once been their masterpieces. "Now we'll never know who won..." Happy squeaked.

There was a moment of silence, then Eve shrugged. "Oh well, it was still fun. Say, Juvia, do you know how to surf?"

* * *

><p><strong>THE NEXT DAY...<strong>

Gajeel winced as Levy rubbed aloe on his flaky, red, sunburned skin. "I can't believe you didn't wear sunscreen that whole time," she snapped. "I'm just glad I made Eve wear some. Honestly, what were you thinking?"

"Well I figured if the Salamander's fire didn't burn me, neither would the sun," Gajeel replied with a bite.

"Nothing but SPF will protect you from the harmful rays of the sun, not even a lost form of magic," Levy cautioned, turning to an attentive Eve. "Remember that."

"Got it," Eve said.

"Maybe I would've done it if someone hadn't dragged me into that stupid sand castle contest..." Gajeel muttered.

"I didn't drag you into anything," Levy said. She smiled and ran her hands, slippery with aloe, down his back. "Besides, you know you had fun."

She got a gruff _hmph _in return.

"Hey, Pops, does it hurt when I do this?" Eve jabbed her father in the side, resulting in a spastic yelp from the latter party. Levy and Eve blinked at him with wide eyes, having never heard him make such a sound before, then grinned sadistically at each other.

The next three days were the most agonizing of Gajeel's life.


	18. Thirteen Years: Missing Magic

_**Author's Note:** So this is the chapter you have all been waiting for: the little episode concerning Eve's magic. You guys are all probably going to hate me after reading this, but I thought it would be an interesting little twist. No flames please! X(_

* * *

><p><strong>Thirteen Years: Missing Magic<strong>

Fiore contained approximately 17 million people. Of those 17 million, only about ten percent were mages. A vast majority of the population were regular people with regular jobs who did regular things.

In Fiore, there were only 1.7 million mages.

The other 15.3 million were without magic.

It had never occurred to Gajeel that his child would be one of those 15.3 million. He'd always assumed that since both he and Levy had magic, then Eve would too. Maybe she wouldn't be a Dragonslayer or a solid script mage, but she would have some type of magic. Once she got that magic, she would do what Romeo and Asuka did: join the guild and start taking on missions until she was one of the best freaking mages in Fiore. Any alternative plan was inconceivable to him.

Until, of course, Levy told him that she didn't think Eve was going to acquire any magic.

"What?" Gajeel said. Eve was at the movie theatre with Asuka and a few other friends from school. They'd been gone for most of the day and wouldn't be back until tomorrow, for they were spending the night at the Connells' for Asuka's birthday.

Levy bit her lip. "Well, I've been doing a little reading and...Gajeel, most kids come into their magic around eight or nine. They may not master it right away, but they at least show some signs. Eve hasn't done anything to indicate that she's experienced anything abnormal that could be attributed with magic, nor has she even shown any interest in being a mage. I honestly don't think she has any magic."

"That's bullshit," Gajeel snapped. "We're both mages, aren't we? How can she not have magic?"

"Magic isn't hereditary," Levy explained. "No one in my family is a mage. And if you hadn't been raised by Metallicana, you probably wouldn't have the magic you do now. Magic is completely random, and it can be shaped to the mage's will."

"But Asuka has the same magic as Bisca and Alzack," Gajeel reasoned. "And the other pipsqueak, Romeo, he's got fire magic like his old man."

"That's common when mages give birth to other mages. Gajeel, I just don't think we've raised a mage. Eve doesn't have magic. If she did, it would have showed up by now."

"You're makin' this crap up."

"I'm not." Levy frowned. "What's the big deal if Eve's not a mage? She hasn't been a mage her entire life."

"She is a mage."

"Gajeel. No, she isn't."

"She's gotta be!" Gajeel snarled. "What's she gonna do if she can't be a mage, hm? Where's she gonna go? How is she gonna protect herself?"

"Do you think she won't be capable of supporting herself because she doesn't have magic? Not every lifestyle is a dangerous as a mage's, you know. She'll probably end up doing something tamer; so what?" Realization suddenly dawned on Levy's face. "Gajeel, are you...disappointed because she's not a mage?"

"No, because she is one," Gajeel argued. "I'll prove it to you."

"Just because she's not magic doesn't make her any less strong," Levy bristled. "And you're not going to prove anything. If Eve doesn't want to be a mage, then you're not going to make her. In fact, she's actually taken an interest in Lily's Buster Marm and your metal sculptures. She wants to take metal shop next year at school. In a way, she is following in your footsteps." Levy pursed her lips at him disapprovingly. "Don't breathe a word of this to her, Gajeel, do you hear me?"

But Gajeel wasn't listening.

Early the next morning, when Eve arrived home from her sleep over at Asuka's, Gajeel was munching on an iron ball he'd found somewhere or another. As she walked through the door, he tossed it at her. "Oi, think fast."

Eve barely managed to dodge it. The ball made a dent in the floor and rolled into the corner. Eve recovered and turned on him, wild-eyed. "What the heck, Dad?"

"What's wrong?" Levy asked, popping her head in.

"Dad just threw that freaking ten-pound ball at my face!"

Levy's jaw dropped. "Gajeel! Are you insane?"

Gajeel brought his thumb and forefinger together in a pinching motion. "Maybe just a little. I was just checkin' her reflexes, that's all."

"For _what_?" Mother and daughter said simultaneously.

"Eve," Gajeel said, "how about you come to the guild with me tomorrow and choose a mission. A small one; in Magnolia, if you want. We'll do it together."

Levy gave Gajeel an incredulous look, but let Eve answer. The girl frowned a little and hesitantly shook her head. "Isn't tomorrow Monday? Don't I have school?"

"You can skip school."

"Gajeel!" Levy warned.

"But..." Eve shuffled her feet. "Tomorrow's the field trip. We're going to go to the blacksmith who works for Heart Kruz; the one specially selected to do Erza-nee's armor. He's going to show us how he makes armor and weapons." Eve caught the slightly crestfallen look on Gajeel's face and awkwardly fiddled with the leather bracelet around her wrist. "I was really looking forward to it. Sorry, Dad."

"S'Okay," Gajeel grumbled. Eve nodded and went to her room. Levy went over to the dent in the floor and prodded at it with her foot.

"Really, Gajeel?" she scoffed. "Really?"

* * *

><p>Eve left for the field trip the next morning before Gajeel got up. Selfishly, he was rather relieved he missed her. He felt disappointed by her. And because of that disappointment, he felt ashamed.<p>

Really, Levy was right. It shouldn't matter that Eve wasn't magic. She was still the same Eve she'd been for the past thirteen years; still the source of his pride and happiness. Eve was still his kid, and he loved her, and nothing would ever change that.

But Gajeel had grown up with the idea that mages were the powerful ones, the strong ones, and that normal people were weaklings. Metallicana had ingrained this fact into his psych, and his time with Phantom Lord had only reinforced those teachings. The thought of his daughter being a weakling filled him with a sense of inadequacy. It wasn't her; it was him. What had _he _done wrong? How had _his _actions lead to this? What had _he _failed to teach her, failed to show her?

Levy suggested that he stay at home while she went to the guild. Gajeel let her go. He knew a good mission would take his mind off things, but he also knew that she was pissed at him. And frankly, she had a right to be. He recalled her lecture last night after Eve went to bed.

"Do you know how insecure teenage girls are?" she'd snapped. "Have you any idea what ludicrous feelings you might have just caused? You and I aren't the only ones who've noticed she's not magic, you know. I'm sure she already feels different, especially since so many of her role models and friends are mages. I'm sure she's wondered by now why she hasn't got powers like the rest of us. I don't want Eve thinking that she's lesser than any of us, because she's not. It's a ridiculous idea. So please, just accept the fact that she is not going to be a mage. For her."

Maybe a day of moping would help.

Eve got home in the early evening from her field trip to the forge. Levy had still not returned from whatever mission she'd decided to take, and Pantherlily was in his little apartment-shed.

If Eve felt awkward, she didn't show it.

"Look, Pops," she said, brandishing a graceful blade the size of Gajeel's index finger. It was elegantly curved at the tip and had even, round serrations along the thicker end near the hilt. "I did it myself. What do you think?"

Gajeel blinked and took the knife in his hands, turning it over and over. Engraved on the flashing flat of the blade near the hilt were twin wings. The scaly wings of a dragon.

Gajeel glanced up at his daughter and saw her eagerly awaiting his judgment. For the first time he took in the intricate silver jewelry that adorned her throat and wrists, and saw how her ears were heavy with metal. He saw the fading blisters on her hands, and the black soot under her half-moon fingernails. He evaluated the lean muscles of her arms, saw how the leather cords that decorated her biceps stretched to remain in place. Earlier he remembered wondering why she'd cut her long hair all the way to her chin; now he saw it was to keep it off of her neck in the scorching fires of the forge.

Eve was not going to be a mage.

As Gajeel gazed upon the masterpiece in his hands, a work of art that would take many craftsmen years of practice to achieve, he realized that he had accepted that. He realized that her craft was a work of magic in itself.

And that he had never been more proud of Eve in his entire life.


	19. Fourteen Years: The Terrible Talk

_**Author's Note:** So the last chapter got a better reception than I thought it would! A few people were upset that Eve wasn't a mage, which is to be expected, but most of you took it like I thought you would: an interesting turn of events. You don't know how grateful I am that you readers are so accepting. I was so anxious that I had to brace myself before reading every review for the last chapter._

_And in response to a question concerning my updates, I usually post a new chapter every Friday (although obviously it's not the case this time, as I was too busy). However, if I am rendered momentarily incapable of posting on Friday, I will do so the following Saturday or Sunday. Unless there is some glitch in my computer or I'm going on vacation, there is usually not a weekend that goes without me updating._

_Although, sadly, _Years of Evelyn_ only has a few chapters left._

_Shhh. It's a secret._

_**Warning:** brief mention of menstrual periods and copulation in the following chapter._

* * *

><p><strong>Fourteen Years: The Terrible Talk<strong>

There wasn't much that unnerved Levy McGarden. Overall, she was a pretty mellow character. Laid-back. Easy-going. Calm. Perhaps not unshakable, but she was still pretty hard to rattle.

However, she'd had an epiphany the day before. When Eve had her first menstrual period.

Much like Levy, she'd been a late bloomer. But that wasn't what Levy was so worked up about. She'd explained to Eve before what a period was. Eve knew, so she came to Levy, hormones and all, and Levy took care of business. That was that.

The horrible epiphany was this: Eve was fourteen.

Eve was going to be a freshman.

In high school.

High school. The words echoed in Levy's head like shouts in an empty cave. High school. Eve was going to be in high school, taking high school classes and eating high school lunch and socializing with high school friends.

Meeting high school boys.

Having high school boyfriends.

High school.

Levy could honestly admit that she'd only had about three or four boyfriends in high school, and none of them had been particularly serious. She'd been too absorbed in her books and lessons to really think about boys. And besides, she hadn't really thought of any of her boy friends like that; they'd always just been friends who were boys. Like Jet and Droy.

But Eve. Eve was so charming and so beautiful with her shiny black hair, big brown eyes, and reckless, _why not?_ kind of attitude. Not to mention the fact that she was funny and intelligent to boot. Definitely well-read. She was also tall and graceful, with lean muscles from her summer spent in the forge.

However, Eve was very much like her mother when it came to boys: hopelessly oblivious. Levy could already tell that she would be the kind of girl who couldn't tell when a guy liked her. _Like_ liked her, anyway. Eve would befriend many boys, and there was no telling how many of them would fall in love with her. And she was smart, so she would be in more advanced classes with upperclassmen. There was no telling how many would hit on her just because she was pretty. Levy didn't delude herself into thinking that Eve wouldn't have a little bit of common sense, but she also knew that love could make people blind. Eve might not notice when someone was using her if they were doing so under loving pretenses.

Levy realized that she needed to have The Talk with Eve.

Yes, _The_ Talk.

When she told Gajeel, he shoved his fingers in his ears and said, "Girl stuff, not my area."

So Levy was on her own, basically.

She paced the floor nervously. Gajeel was a away on a mission; he would be for a couple more days. _Probably fleeing because I brought up The Talk_, Levy thought dryly, imagining Gajeel bounding into the trees like a deer at the sound of a gunshot. She even gave him a fluffy white tail and antlers.

Finally Levy took a deep breath. "Eve! Come down here for a second!"

She heard the thump of footsteps in the hallway, and Eve poked her head in. "Yeah, Mom? You called me?"

"Come sit down. I need to talk to you."

Eve narrowed her eyes. "Am I in trouble?"

"No, just sit down." Levy stifled a nervous laugh as Eve plopped down on the couch, pulling her legs under her. She wore short black pajama bottoms and a navy blue tank top that accentuate the creamy parlor of her skin and the darkness of her hair and eyes. Her feet were bare and tiny. She wiggled her toes as she got comfortable on the cushions.

_High school_, Levy thought miserably, staring forlornly at her lovely daughter.

"What's up?" Eve inquired. "You look a little green. You okay?"

"I need to talk to you," Levy said, squirming. "About...school."

"Um, okay." Eve shot up from her relaxed position on the couch, suddenly alarmed. "Wait, we're not moving are we? You're not gonna home school me? Because I really wanna go to MHS, it's where all my friends are going and it has one of the best academic programs in Fiore; plus I already know the metal shop teacher and he's freaking awesome - "

"No, Eve, you're still going to Magnolia High School," Levy interrupted. "It's just...I wanted to talk to you about some things that'll be...different about high school."

"Oh? Like what?"

"Like...boys," Levy said.

The color drained from Eve's face. There was a moment of dead silence, heavier than any cemetery could provide. Then Eve staggered, as though Levy had struck her, and covered her ears with her hands. "Oh. My. God. Mom! _Mom! _No! I am _not_ having this conversation with you!"

"But, Eve - "

"Nuh-uh. No. I've already taken Sex Ed this year. I don't need you to tell me the reasons why I shouldn't have sex. I'm not going to, okay? So please, just spare us both the humiliation and forgo the topic." Eve pleaded with her eyes.

On some level, Levy was relieved. She'd forgotten entirely that Eve had taken Sex Ed only a few weeks ago. "Well, okay," she sighed. "But if you have any questions about anything, please ask me. Or even Lu-chan, if you wanted to. Just don't...assume anything."

"Got it."

"And Eve," Levy added with a sly smile, "just remember this: if, for some inconceivable reason, you do ever decide to have sex while living under this roof, your father will kill you both."

Eve tipped back her head and laughed. "I dunno, Mom, I think you'd probably get to us first. Sometimes you scare me more than Dad does."

Levy grinned and shook her head as Eve retreated back into her room. She leaned back on the couch and sighed.

High school.


	20. Fifteen Years: Wacky, Weird Women

_**Author's Note:** This is the chapter you've all been waiting for! The dreaded boyfriend!_

_I'm sad to announce that _Years of Evelyn_ only has two chapters after this one. It's been a good ride, but it's almost time to end it._

* * *

><p><strong>Fifteen Years: Wacky, Weird Women<strong>

"You're kidding me, right?"

"What? You look beautiful."

"I look like..." Eve wrinkled her nose in distaste, incapable of conjuring up a word to exactly describe the outfit her mother had forced her into. It consisted of a grey turtleneck sweater, a black ankle-length skirt, black tights, and white heels.

"A nun?" Pantherlily suggested.

"Yeah," Eve agreed, giving her mother an accusing glare. "All I'm missing is the coif."

"Please, Eve, don't be dramatic," Levy scoffed. "Nuns don't wear heels."

Gajeel sat back on the couch and watched the two womenfolk bicker over Eve's ridiculous outfit. He sighed and shook his head. "Levy, just let her wear whatever the hell she wants."

"Thank you," Eve said, throwing her arms up as she turned around to change.

Levy stomped her foot. "But Gajeel - "

"Look, you ain't gotta worry about it," Gajeel soothed. "This punk ain't gonna try anything on her even if she goes on the date butt-naked. Not if he wants to stay male, he ain't."

"Somehow that doesn't make me feel any better."

Gajeel shrugged and watched as Levy continued her pacing across the room. She was very anxious about this kid, whoever the hell he was. Gajeel was pretty sure he'd never met him before; Eve knew he didn't like people at his house.

"Do you even know who this kid is?" Pantherlily inquired, reading Gajeel's mind.

"Nope," Gajeel replied. He grinned. "But I bet he's gonna call me 'sir.' That's what they do in all the movies. Why don't you ever call me 'sir,' Lily?"

"Because calling you 'sir' indicates that you are superior to me which, judging by that idiotic grin on your face, is obviously not the case."

Gajeel opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by Eve entering the living room in jeans, her boots, and a black t-shirt. Levy froze and gave her a once-over. "You're wearing that?"

Eve raised an eyebrow. "I wear this to school. You can't say it's too skimpy."

"It's not, but...where exactly are you going on your date?"

"I told you, we're just going to the fair. There's no reason for me to get all dolled up only to get my nice clothes ruined by the rides or a hotdog or something."

"Still..." Levy bit her lip. "Boots, Eve? Boots?"

"I like my boots! What's wrong with them?"

"Come on, let's see if we can find something a little nicer," Levy sighed, ushering Eve back into her room. "I know you're just going to the fair, but it _is_ a date after all, Eve..."

"Says the woman who wanted me to go disguised as a colorless circus tent," Eve muttered.

Gajeel shook his head as they disappeared into the hallway. "I will never understand women, Lily, even if I live with two."

"No man has ever unlocked that particular mystery, Gajeel, much less one as dense as you."

"You're gettin' awfully smart with me, cat!"

Pantherlily was spared a response by a knock on the door. Gajeel hauled himself off the couch and lumbered across the room to answer it, bracing himself for whatever pipsqueak lay beyond.

The boy was formidable in appearance, clean without looking too dorky. He was nearly as tall as Gajeel but still had the lean, gangly limbs of adolescence. His light brown hair stuck up in strategically messy spikes. He had a silver earring in his right ear, and another one nestled under his bottom lip. He wore a black band t-shirt under his leather jacket and boots. In one hand he had a bouquet of wildflowers; the other was tucked in the pocket of his jeans. His violet eyes met Gajeel's solidly, then flitted away.

"What d'you want?" Gajeel growled.

"Um...does Eve live here, sir?"

Gajeel took a moment to smirk over his shoulder at Pantherlily, who facepalmed from his vantage point on the couch. Then he turned back to the boy. "Yeah. What of it? Who're you?"

"I'm Adam," the boy replied. He cleared his throat. "I'm...um, here pick her up. For our date."

"Date? Nah, she didn't mention no date," Gajeel said.

Adam blinked, confused, until Pantherlily called from the couch, "Oh, just let the poor kid in, Gajeel!"

"Fine," the Iron Dragonslayer grumbled, stepping aside for the boy to come in. He noticed something in the driveway suddenly. "Oi! What's that?"

Adam looked at the vehicle that Gajeel was pointing to. "That's my motorcycle."

"Motorcycle? What the hell do you think you're gonna do with a motorcycle, Allen?"

"Um, it's Adam, sir. And I was planning on riding it...sir."

"To the fair?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah what?"

"Sir."

"Now, Alex," Gajeel huffed, "how d'you think Eve's gettin' to the fair? You gonna make her walk or what?"

"It's Adam," the boy reminded. "And no, I was planning on letting her ride the motorcycle too, sir."

"Letting her what?"

"Ride on the motorcycle, sir."

"Now why the hell would Eve wanna do somethin' like that, Adrian?"

"Um...I don't know, sir. And it's Adam."

"You don't know," Gajeel repeated. "How old are you, Archie?"

"Seventeen, sir. And I told you, it's Adam."

_Seventeen!_ Gajeel thought, scowling. Now that was one little detail Eve forgot to mention, along with the kid's name. "Atticus, you're two years older than Eve."

"Yes, sir. And my name is Adam."

"Why would you wanna go on a date with a fifteen-year-old? You got a thing for takin' advantage of little girls, do ya?"

"No, sir!" Adam protested. "It's not like that at - "

"You think you're smooth 'cause you think you can get what you want from Eve since she's so young and niave?"

"That's not - "

"Well I'll tell you what," Gajeel plowed on. "Eve ain't no superficial, insecure little rug rat. She's tough and can take care of herself. I taught her how to fight the right way, dammit."

"I know, sir, she told me all about it," Adam said. "She talks about you all the time. You and her mom." He held out the flowers. "These are for Mrs. Redfox, by the way."

Gajeel narrowed his eyes. "You makin' moves on my wife, punk?"

"Of course not, I just - "

"So you like older women too?"

"N-no, I - "

"You little pervert. I oughtta beat you off my property for this," Gajeel snarled, towering over poor Adam, who was finally starting to turn a little pale with the pressure of this interrogation. "Eve talks to you about me so much, does she? Well did she tell you who I am? What I am?"

Adam gulped. "Y-yes, sir..."

"And you know what'll happen to you if you try anything funny, don't you?" Gajeel grinned when Adam vigorously nodded. "Oh, no you don't. Let me tell you exactly what I'll do, just to give you a better picture. If my little Eve has so much as a hair out of place, I will find you, drag your sorry ass all the way into the East Forest, and I will beat you until there ain't an unbroken bone left in your body. Then I'll twist you around a tree trunk like a pretzel, and I'll set it on fire then leave you for the wolves to finish off the job." Gajeel bared his teeth and his clenched fist became a metal beam gleaming with malice. "How does that sound? There won't be anything left. If you can't handle that, then you better start runnin', Andy."

Adam didn't correct Gajeel this time. He had dropped the flowers and made a beeline for his motorcycle. When Levy and Eve emerged from Eve's room, the latter dressed in a blouse and shorts, the boy was zooming down the street.

"Gajeel!" Levy shrieked. "_What did you do?_"

"Nothin'. We were just havin' a friendly chat, that's all."

"You just - I can't believe - apolgize to Eve right now - !"

But Eve was doubled over with laughter, red in the face from lack of oxygen. When she recovered, she clapped a hand on her father's shoulder. "Uh, that's okay, Pops. I don't want any weakling for a boyfriend. I mean, geez; if they can't even handle _you_, how on Earthland are they gonna deal with _me_?" She wiped a tear from her eye and sighed. "I think I'm gonna call Asuka and see if she wants to go. Now I get to wear jeans...!"

Levy watched Eve skip back up to her room. Gajeel shrugged. He scooped up the bundle of flowers and brusquely extended them out to her. "Here. These're for you."

"Oh, they're beautiful!" Levy cried, perking right back up. She took them and skipped into the kitchen to find a vase.

Pantherlily gaped at Gajeel, who shrugged. "I guess women aren't as hard to figure out as we thought."


	21. Sixteen Years: Sweet Sixteen Surprises

_**Author's Note:** So someone asked in a review if Levy and Gajeel ever told Eve the circumstances under which they met. Honestly, it's never something I've really ever considered. I'd like to imagine that they'd never lie to Eve, but on the other hand it's quite a difficult truth to tell your child. What do you guys think?_

_One more chapter after this!_

* * *

><p><strong>Sixteen Years: Sweet Sixteen Surprises<strong>

Evelyn Redfox-McGarden wasn't the quietest person.

It was to be expected. Just think about her environment growing up: the Fairy Tail guild. A guild full of the rowdiest, loudest mages in all of Fiore. Eve learned from example, and she had to be somewhat assertive in order to stand a chance in such a habitat.

Sometimes Eve could be a handful, but she was nothing that Levy and Gajeel couldn't manage. Asuka was the same way; in fact, she was actually fairly quiet by Fairy Tail standards, having been initiated into the guild just last month.

This being said, Eve's sixteenth birthday was coming up soon. Levy wanted a big sweet sixteen and, although Eve deemed it completely unnecessary, all of the guild backed her up. It seemed like the only one opposed was Gajeel, who claimed to hate anyone in his house, but eventually he acquiesced when Makarov granted them permission to borrow the guild for a night as long as he was invited to the party.

"Invite all of your friends," Levy told Eve, handing her a thick stack of invitations.

Eve looked uncertain. "Are you sure? You don't want it to just be the guild?"

"It's _your _party, Eve. Invite _your _friends."

"It's just..." the girl bit her lip. "My friends are...rambunctious."

At this, Levy laughed. "Come on, they can't top our guild!"

"Maybe not, but that's the problem; they're just as bad. I don't think that we should mass them together. It could cause even more chaos than usual."

"Don't worry about it," Levy said, waving a dismissive hand. "I'm sure that we've handled much worse. Just pass out the invitations to whomever you want and tell them to be at the Fairy Tail guild at 8:00."

Eve shrugged, reassured by her mother's certainty, and said her farewell as she left for school. She came back that afternoon empty handed.

Two nights later, Levy's alarm went off at midnight. She popped out of bed, scaring the hell out of a sleeping Gajeel. "It's today!" she whispered.

"Wha...?"

"Eve's birthday! She's sixteen today!"

"Levy," Gajeel growled, glaring at her with bleary red eyes, "I'm gonna seriously hurt you if you woke me up to tell me that. I _know_. It's all you've been talkin' about for the past freakin' month."

"Don't you want to surprise her?"

"I think that the best birthday present you could give her is _not _waking her up at twelve in the morning just to wish her a happy birthday." Gajeel flopped down and buried his face in the pillow.

"But - "

"Go to sleep, Levy. We'll tell her in the morning."

Levy pouted. "But I made a cupcake and everything."

Gajeel did not respond, already snoring away like a chainsaw. Levy sighed, knowing that her idea would not be nearly as special without Eve's father present, and curled up next to him, entirely accustomed to his avalanche-like snoring. In fact, whenever he was away on missions, she found her room all too quiet.

In the end, it was Eve who woke up first. Levy decided to leave the cupcake for another time and place. And if not, well; she could always "dispose" of it later. There was never a wasted cupcake in the McGarden household.

The three of them went to the guild to do the decorations but, much like Gajeel's and Levy's wedding, they arrived to find the guild already finely decorated in shades of dark blue and purple, Eve's favorite colors. When the guild members saw them, they all shouted in unison and in correlation with the sign draped above the bar: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EVE!"

Eve looked shocked, then grinned. "Thank you! You guys are awesome, I can't believe you did all this! It looks great."

"Anything for our favorite blacksmith," Lucy said, giving Eve a hug. She handed her a slim package. "Here, I got you something."

Eve curiously unwrapped it and gasped. "It's a copy of your novel!"

"Yup! I finally got it published. But shh, I haven't told anybody yet. Let's keep this little gift a secret between you and me, okay?" Lucy peeked nervously over her shoulder at Levy. "I kind of promised your mom she would get the first copy, but..."

"Okay, it's a secret," Eve laughed. She hugged Lucy again. "Thanks, Lu-chan."

Around that time the first of Eve's guests had arrived, and she was bombarded by a crowd of teenagers. Levy watched her daughter laugh and joke around as more and more of her peers poured in. The Fairy Tail mages began introducing themselves.

And thus, the chaos began.

To say that Eve's friends were rambunctious was a cruel understatement. They were crazy. So were the mages of Fairy Tail. And once the alcohol started flowing and the music playing and the crowds mingling, the inside of the guild became a swarm of mass destruction. Levy gaped from the top floor. Where was Master Makarov? He usually handled situations when they got too out of hand.

Then she spotted him, crowd-surfing on the floor below.

"Hopeless," she muttered, staring down at her hands. Where was Eve, anyway? Wasn't this whole party supposed to be about her?

Levy stepped outside to get away from the stuffy inside of the guild. She sat down at a picnic table and sighed, feeling defeated. Perhaps Eve was right; this was too much for her to handle.

From around the corner, she heard a laugh. Curious, Levy got up and peered around. It was Eve laughing, Eve and Gajeel. They were playing some kind of card game, a tankard of ale by each of their sides, Eve laughing at some story or another that Gajeel told, most likely at Pantherlily's expense.

"What's going on?" Levy inquired, stepping out from around the corner.

They two of them looked at her and blinked. Eve smiled invitingly. "We're just hanging out here. It got a little...crazy inside."

"I know, but..." Levy felt tears gathering in her eyes. Eve and Gajeel both blanched, sharing an identical look of horror.

"Don't cry, Mom!"

"What's wrong, shorty?"

"Th-this whole thing was s-supposed to be about Eve!" Levy sniffed miserably. "And she's not even enjoying h-herself! This was s-s-such a stupid idea; I should have listened to what you w-wanted, Eve! I'm so sorry!"

"Are you kidding? I'm having a great time!" Eve said. "I really did enjoy myself at the party; I just decided to get a little fresh air for a while. I'll go back in, Mom, I promise. Until then...you wanna play with us?"

"Sure."

Just then the top of the guild exploded, fireworks zipping out of the gaping hole in the roof. The three of them gawked at it. "On second thought, maybe we should go," Eve said.

"I second that notion," Gajeel agreed.

Levy smiled. "I have the perfect idea."

* * *

><p>Eve sat patiently blindfolded at the table, listening to her mother dig around in the refrigerator. "I know it's in here somewhere," the blunette muttered, frowning.<p>

"What're you lookin' for?" Gajeel asked.

Levy whispered in his ear, so not to spoil the surprise for Eve, and he nodded. "Oh, yeah, I put it up there," he explained, pointing. Levy grabbed the surprise and ordered Gajeel to grab a match. He did, lighting it obediently and poising it over the wicks of the candles.

"Okay, Eve, you can take the blindfold off now."

Eve did, blinking in the dark of the kitchen. She focused on the small chocolate cupcake in her mother's hands, and the two birthday candles (one a 1, the other a 6) balanced on top. She smiled. "Aw, you shouldn't have."

"I know it's not a huge, gigantic birthday cake like the one that Erza fell into at the party," Levy said, "but I made it myself. With extra love."

"Thanks, Mom," Eve said, following the cupcake with her eyes as Levy set it down in front of her.

"Hey, you should be thankin' me too," Gajele put in. "I made sure she didn't come wake you up at midnight to give it to you."

"And thank you very much, Pops, for your consideration."

"Alright, are you ready?" Levy asked, looking at Gajeel expectantly.

"Yeah, just let me get my guitar!" After a moment or two of searching, tuning, and some swearing, they were ready to serenade Eve.

Gajeel began with a gentle strum.

"_Happy birthday to you!  
>Happy birthday to you!<br>Happy birthday dear Eve!  
>Happy birthday to you!<em>"

Eve blew out her candles as Levy clapped and Gajeel went into an enthusiastic guitar solo. She took a bite out of the cupcake and yummed with approval, licking icing off of her finger. Levy smiled, taken back to the lullaby, _Boats and Birds_, that she used to sing to Eve as a baby to get her to sleep. Idly, she wondered if it would still work if she were to sing it now.

But somehow, she knew it wouldn't.


	22. Seventeen Years: No Words, Not Anymore

_**Author's Note:** Last chapter, folks! It was nice while it lasted, but every story has to end somewhere. This was a great ride, and I hoped you enjoyed it as much as I did._

_If you liked _**Years of Evelyn**_, feel free to check out my other FT stories if you haven't already: _**A Most Powerful Magic**_, _**Iron Roses**_, _**Seven Secrets**_, and _**A Tale Or Two**_. Also, keep an eye out for my upcoming ones: _**Lost Souls,** **Too Sexy**_, and _**Repulse**_._

_A huge final thank you to everyone who read, favorited, and reviewed this story! :)_

* * *

><p><strong>Seventeen Years: No Words, Not Anymore<strong>

Gajeel turned the key over and over in his hands. It was simple and silver, with ragged edges and attached to a key ring. He knew exactly what this key unlocked: the front door of the house. Despite the fact that he knew what the object in his hand was and its exact function, he still couldn't resist asking his daughter: "What's this?"

Eve sighed and closed her eyes. She sat across from both of her parents, wringing her hands and twisting her fingers together. They were scarred, burned, and scuffed, but somehow still elegant. Eve had her mother's long fingers that flashed with silver rings and her father's strong nails, painted black. They were hands that someone expected to see smudging charcoal across parchment, or turning the page of a Gothic novel. Slowly, carefully, her right hand untangled itself from her left and came up to tuck a piece of shiny black hair behind her pierced ear. She'd just started to grow it out again; it was obtaining that wild wavy quality that she got from Levy. Her gaze fluttered up to meet her parents', and it was hard and absolute. Gajeel got the feeling that he was not going to like the next words out of her mouth.

"That," Eve began, "is the key to this house. I'm giving it back."

"Why?" Levy inquired.

Eve sucked in a breath. Exhaled. "Because I'm leaving."

Somehow Gajeel was expecting it, but it still hit him like a blow to the chest. He felt the air whoosh out of him. He could barely breathe.

Levy looked horrified. "What? Why?"

"I'm seventeen now," Eve said. "I'm out of school. I'm an adult by Fiore standards. I'm not going to become a scholar or anything, so there's no reason for me to pursue education through college. It's time for me to find a job as an apprentice to a blacksmith."

"You don't have to leave the house for that!" Levy exclaimed, laughing nervously. "You just got out of school, Eve. You can live here until - "

"Levy," Gajeel interrupted huskily. "There's not forge in Magnolia."

The blood drained from Levy's face. "Of course there is! Eve, you're always talking about the forge - "

"At school. Lily's mini one in our back yard. But Dad's right; there's not a real, professional forge in Magnolia."

"So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying..." Eve swallowed. "I'm saying that I'm moving. Away. Out of Magnolia."

"B-but...but your life is here!" Levy cried. "Your family, your friends; think of Asuka! Think of Fairy Tail! What will we do without you?"

"I'll still visit you guys," Eve assured gently. "And...it's going to be hard for me to leave you. I love you. All of you. But Mom...I can't find a job here. I can't build an independent life here. Even though Fairy Tail will always be a part of me, I'm not a part of Fairy Tail."

"Don't be absurd!" Levy sniffed, tears pooling in her eyes. "You're our baby girl, Eve! You're part of this family and the Fairy Tail family."

"I know," Eve whispered softly. "I know. But - "

"It's time," Gajeel interrupted again, numbly, almost more to himself than to his wife and daughter. "It's time for you to learn how to fly on your own. You don't need to ride on our backs anymore. It's time for you to leave the nest."

Eve hesitantly nodded, looking hurt and relieved at the same time. "Yes. Yes, that's right."

Levy looked back and forth between them, the tears spilling over and dripping onto her cheeks. "Wh-what?"

"Dragonlings," Gajeel explained. "As children, they fly on their parents' backs until their wings are developed enough for them to fly on their own, and their claws and teeth and breath are evolved so they can protect themselves. And then they leave the parents. Eve's wings are developed. Her weapons are evolved. She's ready."

"N-no!" Levy yelled, standing up. "No! Evelyn is not a dragon, Gajeel! She's human, and she doesn't have to leave!"

"Yes, I do." Eve stood up. She was taller than her mother by several inches. "Mom, I don't want to, but I have to. It's time for me to go. I need to travel my own path. I can't stay here in Magnolia forever."

Levy burst into sobs. "Where are you going to go?"

"Onibus Town isn't too far away, and it's the center of blacksmithing right now," Eve said. "I've already done my research and talked to the right people. I have an apprenticeship waiting there if I arrive within the next month."

"The next month?" Levy whimpered.

Eve nodded.

Levy bit her lip and tried to hold back her tears to no avail. Gajeel himself was silent, though the girls were both looking at him expectantly. He couldn't seem to find words. It was strange; he felt strange. His bones felt like they had dissolved, his ears were ringing, his chest was squeezing and contracting painfully in his ribcage. With the careful slowness of an old man, he stood.

Without a word, he left the room.

Pantherlily was out in his little shed, doing whatever it was that he did when he wasn't around his adoptive family. Rarely did Gajeel venture into his humble abode, so when he barged in looking like he'd just seen death, the Exceed knew something was terribly wrong.

He listened patiently as Gajeel flopped on the bed and relayed his story hollowly, without any emotion. But when the Iron Dragonslayer looked at him, his eyes were tormented crimson tempest.

"I understand," Gajeel sighed, "why she needs to leave. I get it. What I don't get is why I feel so damn...so..."

"Helpless?" Pantherlily suggested.

Gajeel scowled. "I am not helpless."

"You know in your heart that there's nothing in the world you could do to change her mind, and that scares you, Gajeel. It scares you that she's going off on her own. She's always needed you, depended on you, but now you feel as though you're the one who is clinging to her."

Gajeel didn't say anything, so Pantherlily sighed and continued. "Let her go, Gajeel. She's a young woman now. She's tough as nails. She's brilliant. She can take care of herself."

The Iron Dragonslayer winced when Pantherlily called Eve a woman. He didn't like that. Eve had always been referred to as a girl. His little girl. _But she's not little anymore_, he thought. Out loud he said, "I dunno if I can do that, Lily."

"Eve isn't Metalicana," Pantherlily said softly. "If you let her go, she'll come back."

"That's not what - "

"She's not Levy either. She doesn't need your protection." Gajeel opened his mouth to protest on behalf of his wife, but he knew it was true. Whenever Levy was in a dangerous situation, it seemed like Gajeel was always the one to rescue her. At first Gajeel always considered it compensation for the bloody beginning to their tangled relationship, but eventually it grew to be something more. He wasn't obligated to do it; he felt a need to protect the delicate blue bibliophile with the warm brown eyes and glowing smile. As for Levy, she rescued him in her own way, with her own gentle weapons. They were each others' savior.

_Eve doesn't need saving. Not anymore_.

* * *

><p>The procession was a long one, every mage from the Fairy Tail guild and then some lined up in front of the guildhall wearing miserable expressions. One month had passed in a blur.<p>

Eve stood in front of her audience. Her belongings were already being shipped to Onibus Town, everything except for the lone suitcase standing forlornly at her side. She would be living out of that until she got to her new apartment.

One by one, she said her goodbyes. The formidable group began to disperse as she neared her dearest family and friends.

"Good luck on your journey," Erza said, fiercely hugging Eve to her armored bosom. "I'll be looking forward to seeing what kind of armor and weapons you create."

"Thank you, Erza-nee," Eve replied, massaging the side of her head with her hand. "For everything you've done. You've always inspired me. I hope I live up to your expectations."

Erza smiled. "You will accomplish great things, Eve. I know you will."

She moved on to Natsu, who gave her a bone-crushing hug. "Natsu-nii!" she wheezed, "I can't breathe!"

"We're all gonna miss you, Eve!" Natsu said, releasing her. "Come visit us a lot, okay? We'll come visit you too, right, Happy?"

"Aye!" Happy chirped.

Eve grinned. "Of course I'll come visit. Fairy Tail will always be my home. Come by Onibus anytime; just don't get me kicked out of the town or anything, okay?"

Lucy tackled her, sobbing. "Why do you have to leave? I wish - I wish you c-could stay forever and ever! I remember when you first learned how to walk and you had those little bows that always fell out of your hair - "

"It's okay, Lu-chan," Eve consoled. "I'll miss you too. You know you've always been like family. I'll be looking forward to that sequel you promised us."

"I'll send you the first copy," Lucy promised, wiping a glittering tear from her eye.

Jet and Droy were next in line, both looking absolutely dismal. Eve gave them each a fierce embrace, tearing up for the first time. "I love you guys," she said. "Take care. Stop by whenever you're in Onibus. Promise?"

"Of course we will, Eve," Jet said.

"You're our favorite niece," Droy sniffed.

Eve moved on, coming to a halt in front of Makarov. She stooped down to give him a hug. "Bye, Gramps," she said. "Make sure you keep these crazies in line."

"What, it's like you think I'm in charge or something," Makarov joked with a grin at her. "You be careful, child. And you're always welcome here."

Eve nodded and hesitantly came to the next person in line, Asuka. The girls stared at each other in silence for a moment, both at the threshold of their adulthood, and simultaneously burst into tears, falling comically into each others arms.

"They look like they could be sisters," Alzack remarked, shaking his head.

"They are," Bisca replied with a smile.

Eve's tears were still flowing as she detached herself from her best friend and made her way over to her mother. Levy, it seemed, was out of tears. She fretted with Eve's clothes for a moment, brushed hair off of her forehead, tears off of her cheeks, and finally gave her a slight smile. "You've been the center of my world for so long," she whispered. "I don't know what I'm going to do without you around."

"Dress Lily up in a bonnet and you can start fresh," Eve said teasingly.

Levy laughed. "As appealing as that sounds, we all know that there's no one in this world who could replace you. You're my baby. I love you, you know that?"

"Yeah," Eve said, "I know. I love you too, Mom."

They embraced. Pantherlily popped up next to her, looking suspicious. "What was that about dressing me up in a bonnet?"

"You know you'd like it," Eve giggled, hugging him. "And you'd probably rock it, too."

"I am quite adorable," Pantherlily modestly agreed. "Good luck. I'll be looking forward to sparring with you next time you come home."

"You're on," she said, flashing him a reckless grin.

Finally, Eve came to the last person in line. Gajeel was sulking, something he'd officially mastered over the years, and avoiding her eyes. Eve gave him a familiar crooked smile. Her eyes were still glittering and pink around the rims, but she knew better than to cry in front of her father.

"Is that a pout I see, Pops?" she said critically.

"No," Gajeel muttered, only pronouncing the obvious pout tugging down the corners of his mouth. "Must be your imagination or somethin'."

"Yeah, right," Eve laughed. She sighed. "There's nothing for you to pout about, Dad. I know how to take care of myself. I learned from the best."

Gajeel snorted.

"You taught me so much," Eve continued. "How to walk, how to ride a bike, how to tie my shoe, how to defend myself, and so much more. It's time for me to learn some things that you and Mom can't teach me."

"I know," Gajeel growled. "But that don't mean I like it."

"I'll always come back," Eve said. "Always. You're my family."

Gajeel's pout softened. "Yeah. Yeah, I know. C'mere, you little punk." He opened his arms wide, and Eve flew into them, wrapping her own arms around his waist.

"I love you, Daddy," she muttered. "I'll miss you most of all, I think."

"Who wouldn't?" Gajeel said half-heartedly, squeezing Eve tighter. "I love you too, kiddo. Show them Onibus clowns who's boss, got it? And if they give you any trouble..."

Eve grinned and flexed her bicep. "I'll give 'em what-for."

Gajeel stopped, the words jumbling together in his mouth. That was not what he was going to say. He was going to say, _just tell me and I'll take care of it_. He closed his mouth and swallowed the words bitterly, reaching out to tousle her hair instead. "That's my girl," he rasped. His voice was still thick with what went unspoken.

Eve gave them all one last smile and grabbed her suitcase, stepping onto the carriage that was taking her to the train station. The group watched it until it stopped at the end of the road. They saw Eve stick half of her body out of the window and raise one arm up into the air, holding the Fairy Tail sign high up for the world to see. They all laughed and returned the gesture. Eve retreated back into the carriage and turned the corner, out of sight.

"She's all grown up," Gajeel whispered.

"No," Levy replied. "Nobody ever stops growing, so nobody is ever all grown up. It's just time for her to grow in a different pot."

Gajeel raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"What? Metaphors are always a poetic way to end things. Don't you agree, Lucy?"

"Definitely."

Gajeel shook his head, looking down the road where his daughter disappeared. "That's where you're wrong, shorty. This ain't the end. This is only the beginning."

The group stared at him in disbelief for a moment.

"And you thought _my_ metaphor was cheesy?" Levy finally said.

"Screw you guys!" Gajeel scoffed. "You just ruined a beautiful moment there!"

They all dissolved into fits of laughter, except for a cross Gajeel. But he smiled, just a little bit, thinking that maybe the others were right; any words to describe this moment would be inadequate. There were no words.

He looked back the road, which glowed orange in the sunset, and wondered what new beginnings were awaiting Evelyn Redfox-McGarden, and how she would grow. Although he knew he would not be a part of them, he had a feeling that he and Levy had equipped her with whatever she needed for whatever obstacles lay in her path.

Pantherlily patted his leg and smiled. Gajeel smiled back.

He was not afraid. Not anymore.


End file.
